The World is Spinning in Circles
by orgymoogle
Summary: Axel loves Demyx, Demyx loves Zexion. But what happens when Demyx goes missing for two years & they finally find him with a gang of rapists? Will Zexion be able to help him heal, even with Axel's persistence to get Demyx for himself? Zemyx,DxA,RxS,AxR
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I, Sora's Sacrifice, do not own **_**Kingdom Hearts**_** (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. Nor do I own the plot or any of its other geniusness. I am merely an obsessed fangirl writing a fanfiction. That is all.**

**A/N: Heya! Many thanks to all who clicked on my story and are actually going to read it! Thank you!!!!**

**Now then, I know, this is really short, but it's just the prologue! The actual chapters will be longer than this, I promise! I just felt like I needed to explain this stuff, so...prologue it is!**

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_Prologue_

Nobody should ever take what good they have in life for granted. Good things come and go, just like loved ones--that is, if you don't hold onto them. Then again, sometimes, even if you hold on with all your might, they go away. And sometimes you don't expect certain things to happen. You are unprepared. You're not ready for what's to come. You can never be sure of what's to come, or what's going to happen. You can't look into the future, you can't predict what is and isn't going to happen--you just have to wait and see what's coming. What happens. And boy, did something happen to the Nomura family....

Years ago, the Nomura family lost something very important to them....

They were a happy family. Until that one, fateful day....excuse me, let me start from the beginning.

Two newly-weds, Mr. and Mrs. Nomura, had everything. They had plenty of munny, a large, beautiful house (more like a mansion), great jobs, lots of food, expensive, stylish clothes from all of the top brands; they had great friends, a safe neighborhood, a trusty (and rather furry) little companion who would always howl at the moon at night, loyal, trust-worthy maids and butler; and they had their true loves (each other, mind you).

Months after their marriage, Mrs. Nomura found out that she was pregnant. She was rather young, in her mid-twenties, and was very excited (and a tad bit worried) about her first baby. She called her mother, her father, her sisters, her brothers, her cousins, her aunts, her uncles, her friends, her neighbors; everyone. She was ecstatic. And her husband, although a little worried, was also rather excited.

After nine months she had the baby; a strong, healthy male with mysterious shapes under his eyes. They looked like upside down tears...purple ones. There was one under each of his eyes. It was odd and unusual, but the child's parents didn't mind--they loved him very much.

Axel, the baby, turned out to be a real spirited fellow. Although he had quite a temper, he was very sweet and kind, and had a good heart. He had astonishingly spiky, out-of-control, fiery-red hair and amazing blue-green eyes that were wild and full of life. He had a very thin figure, which at first worried his parents. They took him to a doctor, but the doctor told them that he was perfectly healthy. As he continued to maintain his slim shape, his parents decided that that was just how his body was built.

Axel had a strong fascination with fire. Even though his parents scolded him when he played with it and told him that it wasn't safe, he just couldn't resist. When they weren't around he would light a lighter--which he had bought from a local drug store--and either play with the fire or just stare at it.

Six years later Mrs. Nomura gave birth to twins, both girls. Naminé and Kairi. Just as Axel had been, Naminé and Kairi were very healthy.

Kairi was the older twin, and had auburn hair that was around shoulder length, and pretty, violet-blue eyes. She had a small, delicate figure, just like her sister, Naminé, who had the same eyes as her older twin but instead of auburn had pale blonde hair that was a bit longer than Kairi's and was styled to hang over her right shoulder.

Naminé was more shy than Kairi, and was a very talented artist. She loved to draw. Kairi specialized in making seashell necklaces.

Axel decided, after some time, that his sisters weren't half bad, and took an extra liking to Naminé.

Seven years later, Mrs. Nomura had another healthy son and named him Terra. He grew up to be a strong little guy, with spiky-ish brown hair and cerulean eyes. Two years after that, a daughter named Aqua, with short blue-violet-ish hair and dark blue-ish eyes. She was very pretty, just like her sisters were.

And then, four years later, came another bundle of joy; Ventus, 'Ven' for short. He was a boy, and a very adorable one at that. He had a small figure, spiky ginger-blonde gravity-defying hair, and beautiful, deep sky blue eyes.

And _then_, as if they didn't have enough children already, they adopted a silvery-haired boy; Riku. His hair was incredible, and completely natural. He hadn't dyed it, it was just naturally silver--from the day he was born.

And if you thought his hair was amazing, then you had to look at his eyes...and his face! His eyes were incredible, such a beautiful aquamarine color...enchanting. Simply enchanting. And his face...wow. He would definitely fit right in with Axel. Well, looks-wise, anyway. They were both...beautiful. They were quite the sexy beasts (beta fish says she changed it because she likes her sentence better)

Riku was about five years younger than Axel, and one year older than Naminé and Kairi. He got along best with Kairi out of the whole group.

Things were going fine for a while. The kids were in school, they all got along fairly well, and they were all pretty happy.

But then it happened. The fateful day that changed all of their lives.

On their way back from work, Mr. and Mrs. Nomura both got into the same car accident with a huge semi.

The whole family was devastated.

Of course, little Ven didn't really know what was going on, seeing as how he was only one year old at the time. Aqua was five years old, Terra was seven, and Naminé and Kairi were fourteen. Therefore Riku was fifteen and Axel was twenty. Yup, still living with his parents after twenty years. However, no one really minded, except for Riku and Kairi who sometimes got annoyed with him.

And, as if their parents dying wasn't enough, they got bankrupt and were left with very little munny.

Well, first went the maids and butler, then went cable, then went the internet, then went certain household items and furniture, then went the dog (sadly), and eventually went the house. They just couldn't afford such a big house anymore.

And so, a year after their parent's death, they moved from Destiny Islands--a small, happy island-- to Twilight Town. They kept the big van, although the smaller, more stylish cars they had had before had to go.

And that's where our story begins, when the family is just arriving in Twilight Town....

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**A/N: And there's the prologue for ya! Thanks for reading! I would very much appreciate it if you reviewed--although, if you don't want to review because it's just the prologue, I understand. But I would be SO happy if you could continue reading and reviewing! You don't know how happy it makes me when people like my stories!**

**Moogles and chocobos to all who are going to R&R! Thanks! I will try to have the first chapter up soon. It really shouldn't take that long, and I'm looking forward to writing it, so...stay tuned!**

**Also, many thanks to my beta fish, **_**flurry of dying flames**_**! Thank you!!**

**P.S. I just want to say, that I know it's really lame, but I don't usually go over what I write, but I did this time! I feel so proud! It's just that usually, after I finish a chapter of something or something, I usually just wanna send it to beta fish and then post it on here. WELL, I've decided that I'm going to be a good author and actually go over what I write from now on! So yeah....anywho...thanks for reading!**

**Until next time,**

**-moogle**


	2. Chapter 1: NO CARS ALLOWED

**Disclaimer: I, orgymoogle, do not own **_**Kingdom Hearts**_** (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. Nor do I own the plots, storylines, or any of its other geniusness. I am merely an obsessed fangirl writing a fanfiction. That is all.**

**A/N: Heya everyone! Ok, so I ended one of my other stories very recently, and I'm ending another one soon, so I decided to start working on this again. Thanks to whoever read the prologue and was interested, and special thanks to everyone who is going to R&R!**

**P.S. I changed my name to **_**orgymoogle**_** instead of **_**Sora's Sacrifice**_**. What do you think? :D**

**P.P.S. Once my other story is done I'm going to post two new stories! (they go together) I already have the first chapters done, and I really wanna post em'...but I shouldn't until I finish my other story.**

**P.P.P.S. I wrote some of this a while ago, so...yeah. Beware.**

**Warning: Some cussing...almost running over an old lady...tripping...sticking out tongues...rolling eyes...stealing couches......-rambles on and on-**

**Well, enjoy, and please R&R!**

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_No Coincidence_

_Chapter One: NO CARS ALLOWED_

"No, Terra, we can't stop for ice cream."

"No, no, Ven! Stop it!"

"No, Aqua, we can't kick Ven out of the car."

"No, Kairi, we're not stopping to look at those shoes."

"No, Naminé, you can't switch seats with Riku."

"No, Riku. There are children in the car, remember?"

I felt like I had been saying 'no' a lot, and it was getting kind of annoying. I wish I could just mute everybody and make them numb so they couldn't move until I said so. I wish I had a controller for each and every one of them. But, alas, I didn't.

So, as I tried to drive without losing my temper and breaking the steering wheel in half, I wondered why Riku wasn't helping out. Or Naminé. Or Kairi. Why is it that I was the only one ever _doing_ anything? No one else stopped Ven from eating weird things, no one else stopped Terra from pranking Aqua, no one else stopped Aqua from hurting little Ven (although her punches weren't very hard, it would still hurt the little guy...), no one ever stopped Riku from teasing Naminé about her drawings, no one ever stopped Kairi from trying to buy cute (and expensive) things. No one ever did anything!

OK, so maybe that was a lie. But no one was doing anything to help today. I mean, c'mon, when you're trying to drive with six other (younger) people in the car, things can get a bit frustrating, especially when they are all bugging each other and asking for things!

Okay, my rant is over.

Anyways, I'm Axel; A-X-E-L, got it memorized? Red hair, blue-green eyes, purple upside-down tear marks (one under each eye), skinny figure, bad temper, twenty-one years old and fascinated with fire, thank you very much.

Yup, I'm the oldest of the group.

The group of seven. Let's see, there's...Ven (his full name is Ventus, but we just call him Ven) who is two years old--the youngest of the group--, Aqua who is six, Terra who is eight, Naminé and Kairi--twins--who are fifteen, Riku--adopted and needing badly to grow up (in my opinion)-- who is sixteen, and of course yours truely, me--Axel--, who is twenty-one, as I already said.

I heard a thump sound come from behind me, and after hearing Naminé and Kairi scold and Ven cry, I huffed and very suddenly pressed my foot all the way down on the break pedal, causing the car to stop very abruptly.

"That's it!" I exclaimed, putting the car in park and hopping out and then swinging the backseat door open with a jerk. There sat Naminé, Ven in-hand. Next to them sat Aqua, then Terra--God knows why they had gotten in this order--and then at the other end sat Kairi. "Okay, everyone out!" I shouted impatiently. Honestly, I had been trying to drive for hours and this was what had been going on the whole time. It was enough.

Once everyone was out, I ordered everyone to sit in specific places. Kairi would remain at the far end--behind Riku who sat in the passenger seat--Aqua sat next to her, then Terra, then Naminé and Ven would sit on Namine's lap. All settled.

Before putting Ven in the car I took him from Naminé and wiped the tears from his eyes. Poor fellow, Aqua was always picking on him. It wasn't fair. She took advantage of him because he was smaller and younger than her. Terra got along with Ven, however. They seemed pretty close.

"It's okay, Ven. Don't cry," I said in a soothing voice, and sure enough the little ankle-biter quieted down. I smiled contentedly and handed him to Naminé who wrapped her arms around him securely and smiled at me. I smiled back.

Now don't get me wrong, I usually wasn't very good with kids, but Ven was special.

"Now then," I began again, "I don't want to hear anymore trouble back here, _alright_?" I finished in a stern voice, so that Aqua might actually listen to me. Honestly, I don't know what that girl's problem was. Everyone replied except for Aqua, who pouted and turned away from me. "_Alright, Aqua?"_ I directed more clearly, putting my hands on my hips and bending over slightly so as to get a bit closer to the young girl. With a huff, she half-turned her body to look at me and said 'yes'. "Good," I finished, closing the car door and hopping back into the driver's seat. After putting the car out of park I gently pressed down on the gas pedal and continued driving.

We were on our way to Twilight Town, and were moving from Destiny Islands. We didn't have much in the car with us, and there was no moving truck following us there or meeting us there. We didn't really have much...only some clothes, some water, some snack food, some munny, some blankets, a couple pillows, and...we had a chew toy for Ven. :D

Yeah...I guess you could say we weren't the wealthiest people in the worlds. Once we got to Twilight Town we were going to try and find a cheap apartment, and then me and Riku would get jobs while Naminé and Kairi babysat the younger kids. We couldn't really think about school...not yet, anyway. There was no way we could afford it, no matter how much we wanted to.

Especially since we had to buy groceries for seven people. Lemme tell ya, that was not easy. Of course, I didn't do the grocery shopping very often--that was Kairi's job. Well, technically it was Kairi _and_ Naminé's job. They usually switched back and forth, Kairi would babysit and Naminé would shop, then Naminé would babysit and Kairi would shop, so on and so on. Yeah, back and forth, like I said.

However, I _did_ get stuck with the grocery shopping once or twice (somehow), and it wasn't exactly what I call _easy_....

I dunno, maybe it's just because I don't know my way around the store.

I shrugged and pulled myself out of my thoughts, just barely dodging a stop sign. I hadn't noticed, but apparently Riku had been looking at me, because when I glanced over at him he was staring at me with a worried expression.

"Uh...maybe I should drive," he suggested warily, raising an eyebrow. I shook my head.

"Nuh-huh, you don't even have a license."

"Yeah, but I could do waaay better than you're doing right now. You've almost made us crash like...six times!" he explained. I just looked at him for a moment before opening my mouth--about to say something--when suddenly--

"AXEL!! LOOK OUT!" I heard from the backseat, and when I looked back at the road there was an old lady right in front of me.

"Shit--!" I said, immediately stomping on the break pedal and turning as far to the left as I could. The car's wheels screeched on the road and the car spun around and then to a stop at the side of the road. I could faintly hear the old lady screaming at us in the backround. The car was silent for a moment, but then Kairi spoke up from the back.

"Axel!! You almost killed that old lady!" she exclaimed, sounding exasperated.

"Yeah, but--" I was interrupted by a very rude Riku.

"And you almost killed us, too!!" he looked angry, and he was angry, and he definitely wasn't afraid of showing it.

"Well, _maybe_ if a certain silver-haired teenager would stop bugging me about my driving, then that wouldn'tve happened!" I shot back, and Riku looked shocked.

"You're actually blaming this on me?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yes! I am blaming this on you!" I returned.

"You're the one driving, asshole! Don't blame me for your stupidity!"

"You were distracting me!"

"Don't cuss in front of the kids..." I heard Naminé say quietly put in from the back; it was barely noticeable through all this yelling, but I heard it.

"Yeah, Riku! What's your friggin' problem? You're never supposed to cuss in front of kids!"

"Oh, shut up! You cuss all the time!"

"Well at least I have the decency to not do it in front of children!"

"Are you kidding me?! Terra and I were talking to each other the other day and he said he learned five new words from you, _Axel_--" he spat my name as if I was the devil himself, "--can you guess what they were?"

"Whatever! At least I actually take care of the kids!"

"What?! I take care of them twice as much as you do!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!!"

"Do to!!!"

"DO NOT!!!" There was the sound of a young child crying from the backround--Ven.

"GUYS!!!" Kairi screamed as loud as she could, so as to get our attention. We both paused and looked back at her, nostrils flaring, eyes burning, faces flaming--you could almost see the steam coming out from our ears. Geez...how in the world did we get into this?

"Would you _both_ shut up already?! You're scaring Aqua and Terra, and you're making Ven cry! Plus you're being immature idiots!" she exclaimed, and I just noticed the terrified expressions on Terra, Aqua, and Ven's faces. Kairi had her arm around Aqua and Naminé was trying to comfort Ven while she had one arm around Terra, holding him close.

I gave a sorry look to them and muttered a soft apology, then scowled at Riku and turned back to face the steering wheel. I didn't get to see what Riku had done, and I didn't hear him say anything--that prideful bastard--but I think I saw him facing his window (away from me) out of the corner of my eye.

The car was silent for a while, except for sniffing from Aqua and a still-crying Ven. I started the engine back up and swiftly drove back onto the road before anyone had the chance to call the police. The last thing we needed right then was a ticket.

We continued our drive in mostly silence; Aqua and Ven had both fallen asleep, Terra was occupied with a small children's book that we still had, Naminé was staring out her window, and Kairi was trying to braid her hair. Riku was still facing as far away from me as possible--what a child--and I was just driving--and actually paying attention now, too.

I sighed. This kept happening more often lately. Me and Riku would get into a fight, Ven would sometimes end up crying, Terra and Aqua would get scared, and Kairi would have to break us up.

I wasn't sure why we kept fighting...we used to get along just fine. When did it start happening again? Oh yeah...when mom and dad....

I shook my head, refusing to let the memories invade.

--

It was around 4:40 AM when we reached Twilight Town. I didn't bother stopping at a Motel, it would just waste our munny--what little we had, that is. We could sleep in the car, we had done it before.

Most of us were already asleep. Everyone in the back was asleep, but I couldn't tell if Riku was because he was still facing away from me.

"Hey, Riku," I whispered and waited for an answer. Moments passed, and I got nothing, so I figured he was either asleep or ignoring me. What a baby.

Sighing softly (so as not to disturb the sleeping little angels) I searched around for some place to park and sleep. It was dark, so I couldn't really see the town very good. As I drove, I wondered in the back of my mind how we would manage there. We were so used to our small little island...peaceful, safe, untouched by any outside world. But now...now we were entering a whole new place. We didn't even know what it was going to be like. We were unprepared.

But we had heard that it was easier to get jobs in Twilight Town. So, why not give it a try? It's not like we were leaving anything behind....

I parked on a random street right outside of Twilight Town. Apparently no cars were allowed in. That was gonna be fun.

Putting the car into park, I made sure all the doors were locked (you can never be too careful), leaned back into my seat and drifted off to sleep.

--

My neck felt cramped, like I had been sitting in the same position for hours. And I most likely had. I opened my eyes slowly, wincing slightly when the light from the sun pierced my eyes. I reached a hand up and rubbed my neck, trying to untense the muscles. It worked a little bit, so next I worked on opening my eyes. Once I shifted around a bit so that my bangs were in my face, I could open my eyes (slowly) because they were blocking more light.

I couldn't tell where we were, but it looked like we were outside of some city. I sat up fully, stretching my arms and legs, and looked around better. A little ways away there was a big sign that said 'TWILIGHT TOWN', and below it there was an entrance. So that's where we were, outside of Twilight Town.

But then why hadn't Axel just drove inside?

I shook off that thought and looked over to the sleeping redhead, wondering what time it was. We didn't have watches, and the clock in our car was broken. Sighing, I sat back in my car chair and closed my eyes.

I hadn't realized it, but apparently I had fallen asleep, because I woke up very abruptly to the sound of Axel sneezing. Normally, I wouldn't wake up when someone sneezed, but Axel's sneezes were very loud. I mean like...they were huge!

My eyes shot open and over to Axel and, sure enough, he had just sneezed.

"Geez, Axel, are you trying to wake up all of Twilight Town?" I asked mockingly, stretching again.

"Oh, shut up," he replied, wiping his nose. I ignored him, not really feeling like aruing with him that early in the morning. After a few moments of Axel not saying anything, I decided to speak up again.

"So are we gonna go in or wait out here?" He didn't even bother acknowledging the fact that I had asked a question, but instead started the car.

"Does that answer your simpleminded question?" Axel retorted, trying to use big words to make him sound smarter. I swear, he was such an idiot sometimes. Like...three-fourths of the time. Maybe more.

I rolled my eyes and looked back out the window. Why was I sitting in the front with him again? I really wasn't sure, except for the fact that since I was the second oldest I deserved the passenger seat. But I'm sure Naminé would much rather be sitting next to Axel than I would.

Speaking of Naminé....

Glancing back over my seat, I noted that everyone back there was still asleep. I don't see how anyone could have stayed asleep through Axel's obnoxious sneezing, but apparently they did. Either that or they were faking it, which I don't think they would do.

Sighing, I turned back so that my body was facing forward again, but I continued to stare out the window. It was a pretty good way to block Axel out, and after that argument of how he nearly killed us yesterday, I decided that that was a good idea. Blocking out.

But seriously, Axel scared me sometimes--something I would probably never admit out loud. Not just his driving, but..._him_. You never wanted to get him angry. He had some...anger issues, I suppose. If you got him too mad he would explode. I had learned that the hard way....

Rubbing my previously-broken nose slightly at that memory, I felt the car begin to move. Taking a big breath and hoping that Axel wouldn't nearly send us to our graves this time, I watched as we entered the town that had been awarded 'best sunset EVER'; Twilight Town.

Very abruptly, we were stopped by a police man. Axel, with a large and exaggerated sigh, rolled down his window for the officer.

"Sir, read the sign," the officer began, pointing at a sign and then reading out the large text loud and clear, "'NO CARS ALLOWED'. Now, please turn around and then enter the town by foot."

"You got it," Axel replied, smirking. He did as the officer said and turned us around, then parked back in the spot where we had slept.

"Great. So we have to go by foot everywhere?" I thought out loud, moaning.

"Eh, it's not so bad. Besides, you could use the exercise." Before I had the chance to reply he hopped out of the door and shut the door behind him. Frowning, I followed suit and began waking the others.

Once we were all awake and ready to go, carrying the few things that we had, we made our way--for the second time--into Twilight Town. The officer gave us a warning look, telling us with his eyes to not try and enter with a vehicle again. After we had passed him I scolded Axel and told him to pay attention to signs, to which he replied that he had read the sign but merely forgot. I rolled my eyes (yet again), and continued putting one foot in front of the other.

Ven was still asleep, and after a while Kairi started whining about holding him. Sighing, I took the young infant and cradled him in my arms. After a while of looking around, I decided it was time I forgot about the whole argument (at least for now) and talk to Axel about where we were going to stay.

"Hey, Axel," I began, walking up to the older man, "where are we going to live?" He gave me a weird look and then faced forward again.

"Didn't we already decide this?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, but we don't know exactly where."

"That's why we're looking around," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But we can't look around forever. The day is gonna end eventually, and unless you wanna drag all seven of us back to the van at sunset then I suggest you stop wasting our time and look for a place to live." He stuck his tongue out at me, but I ignored it like I usually had to (he could be such a child even though he was like...what, twenty-one now?).

And so, we began looking for a cheap place to live. We had some munny saved up for this, so we could probably get a place that was cheap yet something that would work.

We searched through a lot of places, and eventually we found a cheap apartment that would do. Our room had a small living room connected to a small kitchen, a bathroom (one bathroom, great...), and one bedroom. It was gonna be a real pain living with six other people in that small space...but we couldn't do any better. We were already going to have to get jobs right away.

When we finally got into our apartment, it was around sunset, and everyone was worn out. The bed in the bedroom was king sized (thank God), so everyone aside from me and Axel could sleep on it. The race was on. Either me or Axel would get the couch, and I was gonna make sure it was me.

Obviously we were thinking the same thing, because I could see Axel readying himself to run and call the couch. And I could tell he knew I was thinking it, too.

_On the count of three... _I told myself. _One...two....THREE!!!_

We both started off for the couch at the same time, knocking each other over, dragging each other to the ground.

I was just about to reach the couch when Axel grabbed my ankle and tripped me. I fell face-flat on the ground, and Axel hopped onto the couch, shouting victoriously. I stood up angrily, rubbing my sore face.

"No fair! You tripped me!" I exclaimed, fisting my hands.

"I won the couch fair and square. Deal with it, adopted boy," the redhead replied, sticking out his tongue. I gritted my teeth.

"That wasn't fair and square. You tripped me."

"Yeah, well, if you haven't noticed we've been tripping each other the whole friggin' time. You're just a sore loser."

"I am not!"

"Are to."

"Am not."

"Are to."

"Am not."

"Are to."

"Am. Not."

"R2D2!" Axel shouted, winning the argument. Before I had the chance to say something Kairi walked in with a tired and annoyed expression on her face.

"Would both of you _please_ shut up? Both of you were cheating, and Axel won the couch by cheating. So Riku, get over it," she paused, thinking, and then added, "y'know, if you really want it that bad then you could just switch off."

Both of us frowned when she said this, and she sighed. "Look, I don't care what you do, but there are tired and frustrated people in this apartment who are trying to get some rest, and you two yelling at each other isn't helping. Plus you might make Ven cry...again." And with that, she left the room and shut the door to the bedroom behind her.

Huffing, I took my place on a living room chair, accepting defeat....for now. Axel sighed triumphantly, and before I knew it he was asleep. Suddenly I realized none of us had eaten all day.

Hmm...odd. I supposed Kairi and Naminé could handle feeding the kids, so with one last glance at the ever-annoying redhead who took my bed, I closed my eyes and fell alseep.

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**A/N: I don't know why there aren't cars allowed in Twilight Town, so don't ask. It's just, you never see any cars there in the game (the trains and the trolly don't count) so I figured...whatever.**

**Thanks to everyone who read this! And to everyone who is going to review! -hinthint-**

**I didn't know this was gonna turn out this long, but I think I like it...btw, just in case some of you couldn't figure out for some reason, the person who was waking up in the car was Riku...so it was like...from his point of view...from that point on...yeah.**

**Thanks to my beta fish, **_**flurry of dying flames**_**! She actually came up with my new name for me. ^_^ (beta fish says she's veeeeeery happy to see so much axel in one of your stories :D)**

**P.S. I know in the prologue it was from the narrator's point of view, and then in this chapter it suddenly changed to first person, buuut...that's because I didn't think about that before and I had already written most of Axel's part (which is most of this chapter...I think) and I didn't wanna re-write it. I hope that's okay....**

**R&R!**

**All flames will be used for Axel's enjoyment.**

**-orgymoogle**


	3. Chapter 2: Getting Jobs

**Disclaimer: I, orgymoogle, do not own _Kingdom Hearts_ (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. Nor do I own the plots, storylines, or any of its other geniusness. I am merely an obsessed fangirl writing a fanfiction. That is all...I think.**

**A/N: HIYA!!! Bless you for reading this story!**

**I realize that this chapter is short, and...I'm sorry. I'll try to come up with better, longer chapters in the future, but this is what you get for right now! Oh, by the way, THIS IS '_No Coincidence_'!!! I just changed the title. :P Sorry if I confused some of you, but I kinda decided that I wanted it to be focused more on DemAku....I'll have to edit the summary now. Ick. Oh, well, the summary isn't good anyway....alrighty, well, I hope I don't lose any readers! C'mon, DemAku is cute. ^^**

**This is the complete list of pairings that will be in this fanfic:**

**DemAku, Zemyx, a bit of AkuRoku, some side SoRiku, errr....whatever else I decide to add. :P **

**P.S. Favorite Story alerts and Story Alerts and all those great things are really great, but so are REVIEWS! So, after reading, please leave me a review and let me know what you think!**

**Warning: Some cussing, errr...Axel being gay?**

**So, without furtherdue, enjoy!!! :D**

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_Music_

_Chapter 2: Getting Jobs_

"Yeah, thanks anyway," I said with destroyed hope, my eyelids falling half-over my tired eyes. I had been searching for a job all day long and I still couldn't find one! Sure, I had found plenty 'Help Wanted' signs, but I either couldn't stand the job, they didn't think I was right for the job, or, like the dope I was presently thanking for some reason, they already got help and they had just forgotten to take down the help wanted sign.

Sighing, I looked up into the darkening sky. I hadn't yet seen one of Twilight Town's famous sunsets, but right then I was too tired and worn out to care. In the back of my mind I wondered whether Riku was doing any better with the job-finding. He probably was, that 'perfect' little--

Gah, I was too tired to even finish that sentence. I just wanted to go home and sleep...and maybe eat something. Not that we had much to eat.

Moaning, I rubbed my sore back. Guh...my feet hurt, my back hurt, my neck hurt, my ankles hurt, my legs hurt, my arms hurt, my sides hurt...everything hurt. All those stupid jobs...wasting my time...making me sore....

I sighed again, and as I passed a big school building I glanced over at it, as if expecting there to be a 'Help Wanted' sign that wouldn't help me. And, much to my surprise, there actually _was_ a 'Help Wanted' sign. It was taped onto the glass double-door, and in big, red, capital letters it red 'HELP WANTED'. I stared at it, and it stared back. I could almost hear it taunting me, calling me, luring me to it so it could disappoint me. Its relatives had already disappointed me enough that day, and I wasn't planning on being disappointed again. I frowned and turned away from it, planning on just ignoring it and going on to our small apartment. But as I took one step forward, I heard someone talking to me.

"Hey, where are you going?" I froze and turned around, expecting someone to be there, but when I looked there was no one in sight. I furrowed my brows and turned back, cautiously taking a step forward.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" It was a male's voice, but again when I turned around no one was there. Confused, I examined my surroundings, but the only person I saw was a little girl playing with a ball a little ways away.

"Hello?" I asked cautiously, taking a step back.

"I'm over here." The voice sounded like it was coming from the school. I turned to look at the school, but there was no one there.

"Where are you?"

"I'm right here! On the window!" Looking at the window I saw the same 'HELP WANTED' sign in red, capital letters. I furrowed my brows in confusion, but before I could say anything or walk away I heard the voice again. "I'm the 'HELP WANTED' sign." I just stared at the sign and looked around, confused and kinda getting scared that I was going crazy.

"Uhh..." was all that came out when I tried to say something back.

"Don't you want a job? I bet you could get one here and help me off of this accursed window!" I kept on staring, and then the voice got angry. "WELL?! Why aren't you answering? Don't stare at me like that, I'm not the one who's going crazy looking for a job." He was right about that. Err--_it_ was right about that.

"Yeah...I guess...I guess you're right." I started walking towards it cautiously, wondering if anyone would even be there at this time on a Saturday. I guess it was worth a shot. I would try to get this job and if I couldn't I would just head home.

"So, go on, get the job!" Now the sign was getting impatient with me--I still couldn't believe I was talking to a 'Help Wanted' sign, and I furrowed my brows, heading for the door of the school.

"Alright, alright! I'm going," I muttered, slightly irritated. The school doors weren't locked, so I just went right in. It was definitely a school. A rush of cool air hit me as I walked in, and the smell of school on weekends hit me like a bomb. Gray lockers, tiled floors, closed doors, boards hanging on the wall with various papers stuck to them, posters, drawings on both the lockers and the walls, boys' bathroom, girls' bathroom, the cheap lights they cheaply installed into the ceiling. Yup, it was definitely a school. And an empty one, at that. I was going to just turn and leave, but then I remembered my reputation--Axel doesn't go anywhere without a purpose. So, hesitantly, I walked onward into the school. There really didn't seem to be anyone there. But then I heard a sneeze. Deciding to follow the sign of life I had heard, I went up some stairs, down a hall and into a classroom. It was a normal, ordinary classroom; desks, chairs, chalkboard, windows, and a goldfish. Of course, it hadn't been the goldfish who'd sneezed.

Standing at the fish tank there was a guy, who didn't look too much older than me, feeding the fish. He had his back turned to me, and I don't think he heard me come in, so I just waited and watched. His blonde hair stood up in an odd fohawk-mullet fashion, and I think I could hear him talking to the fish. Great--I just _had_ to run into some weirdo who talked to fish.

Like I was one to talk.

I hadn't realized it yet, but apparently he had noticed me, and was now staring at me with light aqua -blue eyes that looked bright, bubbly and excited for no good reason. I stared back at him, and then he smiled.

"Hiya!" he greeted me cheerfully, and I nodded back, muttering a quiet 'yo' back to him, but I don't think he heard me, cuz he continued talking like he hadn't. "Who are you?" I just looked at him, listening to his voice carefully. There was something about it, something that felt nice....

"Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners?" I returned, and he looked at me kinda confusedly. Nice move, Axel. Why the hell did that come out?

"Uhh...I guess?" he spoke awkwardly, goldfish-food in hand.

"Then you should know that you always introduce yourself first." His next expression could have been translated easily as: duh.

"I'm sorry!" he said, slapping his forehead. Then he smiled brightly and walked over to me, "I'm Demyx," he introduced himself, reaching out his hand for me to shake. I looked at his hand warily, and then he laughed. His laugh sounded so pure, so innocent...it was like...like music or something. "Don't worry, I don't bite." Damn it, he kept smiling like that! I could hardly keep myself from smiling back at him.

_Just keep calm,_ I told myself mentally, willing myself not to smile.

I shook his hand and his smile grew a bit bigger, and then he pulled his hand away. "So," he began, "what's your name?" I swallowed the lump in my throat and spoke hoarsely.

"Axel." No spelling, no 'got it memorized?' at the end, just plain ol' 'Axel'. The hell?

"You don't look familiar...are you new around here?" he asked me casually, the smile never leaving his face. I nodded.

"Yeah...we just moved here, me and my siblings." Suddenly I could speak again, and I could have sworn his smile grew bigger.

"Cool. How many siblings do you have?" He seemed genuinely curious, and with those big blue eyes looking expectantly at me I couldn't help but answer. Usually I hated it when people asked these kind of questions. They were so annoying.

"Six." Surprise was written across his whole face, and I couldn't stop a tiny smile from escaping.

"You have SIX siblings?" Demyx--I think that was his name--asked me in astonishment, and I think I could hear a pinch of jealousy in his voice.

I nodded again and added, "But one of them is adopted."

"You're so lucky! I wish I had siblings...I'm an only child. It gets lonely." He WANTED siblings? Shit, I wanted to send them all off! Six siblings could really piss you off sometimes. Then again...I guess I kinda liked some of them. Like Naminé...and Ven. We could get rid of the rest, though. Especially Kairi...and Riku.

He seemed to notice the look of dislike I gave him, and he frowned. "What, you don't like your siblings?" I frowned.

"Well, uh," I paused, trying to think of a reasonable answer. Ah, what the hell? Who cared about reasonable answers? "Eh. They get annoying. Especially Riku...and Kairi."

"Hmmm....yeah, people always tell me that theirs brothers and sisters get annoying. I guess they would, huh?"

"Duh," I snapped back. An awkward silence grew.

"Sooooo...." he dragged out the word, and even though he was talking it sounded almost like singing.

I wasn't really that interested in this guy's opinion, I mean, after all, I had just met him, and all I really wanted right now was to get a job. Hell, screw that, I didn't want a job, I wanted munny. But I needed a job, and that's the only reason I came into this school in the first place. "Demyx," I said, and I seemed to have gotten his attention, "I'd love to chat; tea, cake, the whole shebang, but I've got a ship to launch and you've got your outfit to buff up." He gave me a blank look for a moment, and then his whole face brightened.

"I love that movie!" I rolled my eyes.

"That's great...look, I just need a job, okay?" I said, finally getting to the point. His smile faltered for a moment, but then it was back.

"Oh! You saw the 'HELP WANTED' sign, huh?" _Obviously_, I thought in my head annoyedly. A_nd not only did I see it, I heard it, too,_ I added subconsciously. "Weeelll, I'm just a teacher here--a substitute teacher, actually--so I can't just give you the job." Great. Then why the hell was I there? "But," he continued, "if you come back on Monday, then I'm sure the principle will be here, and then you guys can talk about it." Monday? Damn it all, I was so going to lose that bet with Riku...we were trying to see who could get a job first, and we had bet munny. Not that we really had much munny to bet.

"Okay...well, thanks, I guess." I nodded and turned to leave, and I saw him smile brightly at me.

"You're welcome! It was nice meeting you. I hope you like it here, and I hope you can find a job quickly," I opened the door and turned back to look at him one last time.

"Yeah...well, uh, see ya," I said kinda awkwardly, sticking two of my fingers to my forehead and making a kind of salute. He smiled and waved.

"Bye!" And with that I left, only to come back again on Monday. Oh, fun. With tired eyes, ears, feet and voice box, I headed back home to plop my ass down onto the cheap apartment couch and sleep.

*** * ***

I sucked in a deep breath and blew out, puffing my cheeks in the process. I wasn't having much luck. Sure, I had found a bunch of jobs, but all of the ones I found sucked.

Another group of girls giggled as I walked past them. I smiled at them, and they began squealing. Honestly, girls around here. They had been doing that all day.

I continued walking down the brick road, sighing and running a hand through my hair. My bangs fell back into my face, and I briefly questioned myself on whether they were getting too long or not. Nah.

I wondered in the back of my mind if Axel was having better luck or not, and chuckling softly I guessed he probably wasn't. Axel didn't always have the best of luck.

I heard a voice that sounded Jamaican coming from somewhere, and it sounded like it was trying to sell something. I continued walking down the road and I happened upon the owner of the very voice I had heard. There was a boy--he didn't look much older than me--with very tan skin and orange hair that stuck up and made a weird swirly. He had a green bandanna wrapped around his head, and wore loose orange pants with a tiny green vest and no shirt. Hmm. Odd looking fellow.

He seemed to notice me looking at him and offered a friendly smile.

"Yo, mon!" he greeted me, waving a tan hand in my direction. I smiled back--although mine wasn't as big--and waved a little bit. "Why don't ya stop by Wakka's Whirlin' Surf Shop, da best place to go when ya need surfing an' other beach-y supplies, ya?" I shook my head.

"No, thanks." The man sighed in defeat and his smile went away. I felt kinda bad, but honestly, I didn't need surfing equipment. Who did? There wasn't a beach around here. I mean, sure, you could take a train to one, but....

"Mon, dis is hopeless," he hunched his shoulders and turned, preparing to walk away. But he only managed to take a couple steps before I spoke up.

"Well, maybe you could try going somewhere where people need surfing supplies. There aren't any beaches here, so...." Man, I felt like I was talking to a little kid or something. Anyone with common sense could see that.

"Ya, mon, I would, but my parents won't let me go somewhere else," he turned back to me, shrugging hopelessly. "Y'know, mon, we used t' live on da beach. But den we moved here. Dunno why."

"We used to live on a beach, too," I replied, and he looked sort of surprised.

"Really? You don't look like you used to live on da beach, mon," he looked me up and down, and then continued. "You're too white, ya." I laughed, and he laughed too.

"Yeah, I tried to stay in the shade for the most part." He gave me a toothy grin, and then offered his hand.

"I'm Wakka," he said, and I took his hand and shook it.

"Riku."

"So, Riku, you new here, mon?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, me and my siblings just moved here."

"Ah, only siblings, ya? What, no parents?" I looked down and shook my head. Even though they were only my stepparents, they were the only real parents I had ever had. I missed them.

"No," I answered plainly, and an awkward silence grew between us.

"So," Wakka was the first to break the silence, "what beach didja live on?"

"Destiny Islands," I answered straight-forwardly.

"Ah, Destiny Islands, ya? I've heard it's a nice place." I smiled at the thought of our peaceful islands. No danger, no huge quarrels, no strict laws....

"Yeah...its a really nice place. Really peaceful." He smiled back, and then I continued. "So, where'd you live?"

"Besaid Village," he replied, a huge smile spreading across his features.

"Really? I had a friend who moved there. Can't remember his name, though," I laughed lightly, and his smile grew.

"I was captain of our blitzball team, y'know, " Wakka told me. "Da Besaid Aurochs." Wow, blitzball.

"Wow, cool. Win any games?"

"Ya, well that's not important...." Wakka put his hands back on his hips. "You blitz, mon?"

"Yeah," I paused, "I guess so. I don't get to play very often...heh, I haven't for a while."

"Ah, mon, we should play sometime." I nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds good." A woman and her child passed by us and Wakka wasted no time in advertising a few items I assumed were in his shop. What did he call it? Wakka's Whirlin' Surf Shop? Heh, nice name.

"Yo, mon! Ya need surfing supplies? There's no better place to go den Wakka's Whirlin' Surf Shop! We have everything ya need! From surfboards and wax to blitzballs to bathing suits and towels! All your beach-y needs in one small store! And we're cheap, too, with great service!" The woman just shook her head and warily passed Wakka. Wakka frowned. "See what I mean, mon?" he said in despair. "I might as well just close the shop."

Hmm...well, he _did_ kinda need help with his shop, right?

"Hey, you uh...you need some help with your shop?" He blinked at me, and then shrugged.

"I guess I probably do. Why, you need a job?"

"Yeah, actually..." I scratched the back of my neck kinda sheepishly, "I do."

"Well, mon, I'd love to give you a job, but..." he paused, letting his hands fall to his sides, "...I don't see how hiring you would help me sell stuff. Sorry, mon." I sighed. Man, so much for that. Maybe Axel really would win the bet....

"Nah, it's okay. There are plenty of jobs out there, right?" I tried my best to smile, but it was a very weak smile, and Wakka saw right through it.

"Sorry," he smiled apologetically.

"Well," I began, turning, "I better go. Seeya later, Wakka." I waved to him slightly, and began walking away. There were a couple of teenage girls that I passed as I left Wakka, and they giggled and waved to me. I didn't bother smiling at them, I just wanted to go home and eat. I was starved.

I didn't get too far away before I heard Wakka calling after me.

"Yo, mon, wait up!" I turned and saw him coming towards me. "You still want the job?" Confused, I answered slowly.

"Err...yeah, I-I guess so." I furrowed my brows in confusion and he smiled hugely.

"You got the job, mon!" he said, patting my shoulder.

"But--you said that--"

"Ya, mon, but that was before I realized how insanely HOT you are!" Wakka laughed, and I blushed. Wow, I was blushing. I guess it was a good thing I had long bangs after all. "If you're working for me, the chicks will come floodin' in, mon!" He laughed again, and I rubbed my arm uncomfortably. "So," Wakka continued once he stopped laughing, "you want the job?"

"Uh...sure," I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so," I continued, nodding. "So, would you pay me?"

"'Course, o'course!" Wakka said, waving me off as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "So, mon, when can ya start?" he asked, that toothy grin still on his tan face.

"As soon as possible."

"Great! Den I guess I'll see you here in da mornin', 9:00 o'clock sharp, ya?" He patted my shoulder and I nodded.

"Yeah, see ya then." I nodded to him, and then we departed. Hmm, working at a surf shop, huh? Interesting....I wonder what it would be like, and how much I would get paid. I froze in my tracks. Dang it, I had forgotten to ask how much I would get paid!

Gah, oh, well. I'm sure this Wakka guy would be fair, he seemed like a pretty decent guy. I continued my short trek home in silence.

It was growing darker, and I was just about home.

All of a sudden, something bounded into me and nearly knocked me over. Luckily I caught myself, and I caught whoever it was, too. I didn't even have time to say anything before the person stood up and flew out of my arms.

"Sorry!" I heard a young, high-pitched voice exclaim, and then I saw two huge, beautiful cerulean blue eyes look up at me. They were surrounded by a tan face, a very adorable one at that, and spiky brown hair. But all of it was gone in a flash, that voice, those eyes, that hair, that face...just like that. It was almost like it had never happened. Swooped in outta nowhere and vanished without a trace. I just stood there for a second, trying to register what had just happened in my brain. Then I blinked, and shook my head.

_Who was that?_ I asked myself, although I didn't know the answer. I looked behind me to try and catch a glimpse of whoever it was, but they were already gone. Puzzled, I continued walking home, and when I got there Axel was laying on the couch, head back, eyes closed. But he wasn't breathing deep, long, even breaths like someone does when they're sleeping, so I figured he was still awake.

"Hey," I greeted him simply, plopping down on the chair in our small living room. Like you could even call it a living room. He just grunted in response. "Did you find a job?" I asked, expecting to earn some munny. He didn't reply, so I continued. "I did." I smirked as he opened one blue-green eye to look at me.

"Really?" he asked distrustfully.

"Yup."

"What is it?"

"....I'm working at a surf shop."

"...."

"......"

"A surf shop? What the hell?"

"Like you could find anything better."

"Actually, I'm going to be working at a school." I looked at him with a weird expression.

"A school?"

"That's right."

"As?" He was silent, and I knew I had caught him. "Well?" I prompted, smirking.

"I don't know, but I'm sure it's better than working at the surf shop."

"What's wrong with working at a surf shop?"

"...There's not even a beach around here."

"You can take a train to one."

"Tch."

"Did you really get the job without knowing what it is?"

"...."

"Well?"

"Damn it, Riku, you're so annoying! No, I didn't actually _get_ the job yet, but I'm going to!" I laughed at him and walked over to the couch, reaching out my hand for the munny. He just looked at me with annoyance, and I spoke.

"Pay up."

"Well, I don't have the munny right now! You could at least wait until I've gotten my first paycheck!" I sighed and lowered my hand, sitting down on the chair like I had been before. "Asshole..." I heard him mutter, and rolled my eyes. He could be so immature.

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**A/N: Wooowww....this seemed longer when I was writing it. Sorry it's so short. But I hope you liked it anyway! I dunno, when I was reading over it I felt like it was too fast-paced....I dunno, tell me what you think, and if anyone else agrees I'll try to fix it. (beta fish says it's FINE. sheesh, at least you can write stories with plots...*nosepick*)**

**Well, thanks for reading!**

**We met both Demyx and Wakka today....and saw Sora. And don't worry, we'll be seeing more of them soon. ^^**

**Well, please review, because reviews make me write faster.**

**Thanks to my beta fish, _flurry of dancing flame_, for beta'ing all of my stories!**

**So now comes the part where you review and let me know what you think! And constructive criticism is welcome!! :D**

**All flames will be used for Axel's enjoyment.**

**~moogle**


	4. Chapter 3: A Lot of Gays

**Disclaimer: I, orgymoogle, do not own **_**Kingdom Hearts**_** (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. Nor do I own the plots, storylines, or any of its other geniusness. I am merely an obsessed fangirl writing a fanfiction.**

**A/N: Lookies, I haz finally updated! Aren't you proud of me? =D**

**Okay, sorry, once again, that this took so long. I know its been like...months?, but it just doesn't seem like that long. Sorry! Plz forgive and accept this chapter as payment for my slacking!**

**Oh, btw, I know that in the last chapter Wakka told Riku to be at the shop at like...9:00 AM or something, but I changed it so that he told him to be there at about...well, whenever it says later in the chapter. lol**

**So sorry about the confusions, cuz I think I changed some other things, too, and if you have any questions just ask me! Oh, and I know it says it's summer in the chapter, but it's not actually technically summer yet. Its just getting really hot, and school is almost let out, so...yeah. :)**

**P.S. Guess what! I finally finished **_**Inkdeath**_**! :D I'm so proud of myself...xD I didn't really like the ending, though...but, it gave me a great way to start a fanfic set after it! :D If you're an **_**Inkheart**_** fan, you can look forward to a new, **_**chaptered**_**, **_**Inkheart**_** fanfiction coming up soon! Watch out for it! :D**

**Warnings: Cussing, boyxboy, umm...yeah. **

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_Music_

_Chapter 3: A Lot of Gays_

Monday. The stupidest day of the week. People went to work, kids went to school, and the rest of the week re-started. Again. More work, more school. Of course, not for us. Well, maybe for me and Riku, now, but...

Speaking of which, I was currently on my way to the Twilight Town high school. Heh, funny how I should have actually been on my way to a college right then, but no, unfortunately (or not so unfotunately, maybe) we didn't have enough munny to send any of us to school.

I sighed. I just hoped I would be able to get a job at this school. I couldn't be a teacher, that was for sure, but weren't there other jobs at a school than teaching?

Tch, stupid Riku and his success. He had left at about the same time I had, which was 2:30 PM. I wasn't sure when to go, so I decided after school. A lot of schools ended at about that time, right?

I sighed as I came up to a large building. The 'HELP WANTED' sign was still on the front doors. Well, time to get this show started. All of a sudden, the bell rang, and I could almost hear the stampede of students as classes let out.

I guess I had been right about when it let out.

I walked up the few steps you had to take up to the doors, and once again felt cool air hit me as I entered the building. It felt good. It was so hot in Twilight Town, I had discovered over the past couple of days being here. There were teenagers everywhere. Bullies and jocks, populars and geeks, gays and straights, the ones who were all over each other and the ones who acted like the other was a repellent, and of course the occasional teacher here and there.

I stood kind of awkwardly for a moment, looking around for some sign of the Principle's Office. There were some really odd looking kids at the school, and some really boring looking ones.

My eye caught sight of something familiar, however. A certain blonde with a mullet/mohawk hairdo and sky blue eyes. Talk about sky blue eyes...

...err, ahem. Anywho.

He was leaning against some lockers on one arm, the other rested on his hip, and he was slightly hovering over another boy. The other boy, who had slate-colored hair that completely covered the right half of his face in a rather emo/punk fashion, was holding a few books to his chest. Hmm. The classic schoolboy and schoolgirl 'locker position'. The blonde, Demyx, if I remembered correctly, was quite a bit taller than the other boy, and he looked a few years older, too (beta fish says bullshit, they're like the same age!!).

Demyx was blabbering away happily while the shorter one was just staring up at him. I couldn't tell if he was really paying attention or not, there wasn't much of an expression on his face. He wasn't very colorful, either...or very much grown. The dude was like a shrimp.

I wondered how old the boy was as I subconsiously began walking towards them. Well, he was the only guy here that I kinda/barely knew, and it was better than walking around looking like a helpless fool.

Demyx must have seen me coming, because he turned and his whole face brightened like a lightbulb. He smiled and waved at me excitedly (at which, I noticed, the other boy gave a glare), and I flashed him my uberly-fantastic-hot-sexy-slick-I-know-I'm-hott smile, at which I noticed a tiny blush. I reached the two boys shortly, and Demyx was the first to speak.

"Hiya! Wow, it's you! I wasn't sure if you would actually come or not!! You remember me, right? Demyx. You're..uhh....uhmmm....."

"Axel," I finished for him, causing a tiny blush to appear (again) on his slightly tanned cheeks.

"Right, 'Axel'," he repeated, scratching the back of his neck nervously. We stood in an awkward silence for a few seconds before Demyx seemed to find his voice again. That emo kid was glaring at me almost the whole time. It was kinda creeping me out.

"Oh! This is Zexion," he gestured to the slate-haired (and apparently slate-eyed, too (beta fish says actually, his eyes are dark-bluish-grey, un)) boy beside him. 'Zexion' gave me a mere nod, and I nodded back.

"Yo." He didn't give a reply, or rather Demyx didn't give him the chance to.

"He's meh boyfriend." Demyx smiled and wrapped one arm around Zexion's shoulders. My eyebrows shot up. What? He had a boyfriend?

"Uhh...oh," was the intelligent reply from moi. Demyx laughed and smiled. His laugh sounded like music....

....okay, now don't get me wrong, I am **NOT** one of those obsessed girls (beta fish says lol AxeLeagirl?) who think whatever some guy they like does is amazing. And I'm not some amateur writer writing sappy love stories. His laugh seriously sounded like music.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to that around here," the blonde assured me, letting his arm fall off of his apparent boyfriend and patting me on the shoulder. "There are a lot of gay dudes," he finished, chuckling. I wasn't sure what kind of expression my face was portraying, but it must have been pretty suprised or something, because Demyx took one look and started laughing even more. Good golly, this kid could laugh!

Well, I guess 'kid' wasn't the appropriate name for him. He was probably older than me. But then, what was he doing in a high school? Heh, maybe he was really behind. I smiled at this thought, but then my smile went away. Maybe he just looked older than he really was? Well...that would have been one heck of a growthspurt!

When I came out of my little train of thoughts, I found Demyx and Zexion both staring at me. Well, Demyx was staring at me, Zexion was just kinda lookin' at me with a weird glare/blank/something look.

"Are you okay?" Demyx asked worriedly, and I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"Uhhh...yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" But my question never got answered, because, yup, you guessed it, Demyx started talking again.

"So, you here for that job offer?" _Yeah, why else would I be here, dumbass?_ I thought, 'course I didn't say that out loud.

"Yup."

"Cool! So, I guess I should like, tell you where the principle's office is, huh?" Sheesh, was this guy perky or what? "Well, I guess I'll catcha later, Zexy," he said, turning to his boyfriend and bending down to give him a quick kiss on the lips. I raised my eyebrows again, but neither one of them seemed to notice. However the shorter one, Zexion, looked a bit flustered, and I could have sworn I'd seen a tiny blush on his cheeks. I didn't have time to say anything (again) before Demyx grabbed my arm and was dragging me off somewhere.

*** * ***

Me and Axel left at about the same time the next day. 2:30 PM. He headed to the school, I headed to 'Wakka's Whirlin' Surf Shop'.

As I neared the spot where I had met Wakka the day before, I noticed for the first time a thick sign hanging above the shop. 'WAKKA'S WHIRLIN' SURF SHOP' was written in a blue, water-wave font. I reached the door, which turned out to be made of bamboo, and tried to open it. It wouldn't open. I tried again, but it still wouldn't budge. It was locked.

I sighed. Okay then.

I examined the door and then sighed again. Well, maybe Wakka was already there? I knocked on the bamboo door, hoping he would come and answer it. I waited for a few moments, and then knocked again. Sighing, I tried one more time, and still no one came. I decided to just wait, when suddenly I heard a Jamaican voice from behind me.

"Maybe if you say 'open sesame' it'll work, mon." I turned to see Wakka standing behind me, grinning. I smiled, too, and he began walking over to the door.

"Hey," I greeted, and the door opened with the 'ding' of a bell.

"Yo, mon," he returned, and he stepped inside, gesturing for me to do the same. The air in the shop was pretty much the same temperature as outside. "Make yourself at home," Wakka said, walking through the shop and into some back room.

I stood there kind of awkwardly at first, and then examined the place.

It was a fairly small area, with surf boards, bathing suits, goggles, towels, sun screen, wax and basically everything else for the beach that you could imagine everywhere. The walls were orange with blue wave designs at the tops and bottoms, and there was a bamboo check-out counter to the left. There was beachy music in the backround, and you could almost smell the ocean. The place had a nice aura, and I was able to relax.

Wakka entered back into the main room moments later, heading over to the front desk, only pausing to mess with a thermostat on the wall. He sat at the counter and leant his arms on top of it, grinning at me.

"Nice place, huh?" he asked me, obviously proud of his little shop. I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah." We stood in silence for a few moments, when suddenly the orange-haired teen pulled out a few sheets of paper and placed them on the counter, tapping them with his finger.

"I hate signing papers, mon, but I need ya' t' fill these out, ya?" I nodded, walking forward to stand right in front of the counter. He handed me a pen and I took it, filling out the papers. It didn't take long, and I handed them back to him. He scanned over them and smiled. "Great." He shoved them into somewhere, and I shrugged off the fact that I couldn't even fill out some of the questions on them. Whatever. "So," he began again, standing up and walking towards an aisle, "here's the details. The shop opens at 2:45 and closes at 7:00 on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and sometimes we're open on Saturdays. Depending on my schedule, yah?" I smiled politely and nodded.

"Okay."

"Right. So, your job," he paused, smiling sort of evilly and going to the back room again. I waited and tried to guess the rest of his sentance.

"It's to help with the shop...right?" That's what I was here for, right? I mean...what else?

"Yah, mon! Exactly! And the way you're going to do that, is to advertise!" he replied cheerily. I heard some shuffling, and he came out of the back room with some stuff in his hands.

"Al...right." I raised an eyebrow as he held something out to me. A hula skirt. My eyebrows shot up in suprise.

"Oh-no! No way!" I refused, waving my hands back and forth in front of me. He frowned.

"But you have to! You agreed to da' job, mon." True, I had agreed to help with the shop, but...I never agreed to wear a skirt!

"Yeah, but...that's just...cruel." He just stared at me and blinked, and then laughed.

"Haha!! C'mon, mon! The ladies will love it! They'll come rushin' in! And we'll prolly get some dudes, too," I blushed lightly, and he laughed more.

"Still...I just...c'mon, can't I wear something else if it's really that important?" He stared at me for a second, as if considering this, and then blinked.

"Well..._I_ think that the hula skirt would be a winner--" _or I would look like a total idiot,_ I added in my mind, "--but...I suppose you could wear some swimmin' trunks instead...or maybe even a surfing outfit...hmm...." A surfing suit? For Gaia's sake! Well, I guess that was better than a hula skirt. Sure, I needed the job, but I was not going to go to such drastic measures as to wear a hula skirt. No way.

*** * ***

You have got to be kidding me. This was probably the worst job ever. Besides plumbing. How come Riku got to work at a fucking surf shop and I got stuck with working as a JANITOR? He would never let me hear the end of this! And the only damn reason I accepted this job was because we need munny, fast, and now I was going to teased for it! That just wasn't justice, man.

When I exited 'Principle Xemnas'' office (and what a scary yet hot principle he was) it was silent. The school had emptied, there wasn't one kid in sight. The halls were quiet again, just like the first day I had come into this damned school. Eh, I guess I should be grateful. At least it payed, right? Too bad our fucking parents had to....

....anyway....

My footsteps echoed slightly as I walked through the empty halls of Twilight Town High. I wondered in the back of my mind if Demyx was feeding the class fish again...I hadn't gotten to see if he had left before or not. He rushed me over to the principle's office and then disappeared with a cheery 'good luck!'. I wondered also, again, why he was here. He must be held back or something. He looked too old to still be in high school.

I shrugged it off. Whatever. If it was really that important, I would find out. Heh, I would probably figure out anyway. Demyx could talk.

I smiled at the thought of the chattery blonde, and quickly wiped the smile off of my face. Why was I smiling? There was nothing to smile about. I was now a janitor.

I exited the school and stopped after I walked a few feet away from the front steps. Well...I could always just check...I mean, it's not like I had anything else to do....

....aw, damnit.

Frustrated, I turned around and walked back up the steps, and into the school. I wasn't exactly sure where the room he had been in before was, but it couldn't be too hard to find, right?

It took me a little while longer this time, but I found the room, and sure enough, there was Demyx. And it looked like he had just gotten finished feeding the fish. He must've heard me come in, because he turned around a second later and when he saw me, smiled. I couldn't stop a smile of my own from forming. It felt...nice, to have him smiling at me.

"Hiya, Axel!" he greeted enthusiastically. I nodded my greeting back, waving two fingers.

"Yo."

"Did you get the job?" Well, that was straight to the point. I furrowed my brow in frustration as Demyx brought back the horrible thought of _me_ being a _janitor_. Honestly, it just didn't fit.

"Yeah...I got a job..." I replied, shifting my gaze to the floor in embarrassment. I quickly decided to change the subject, so I would have a chance of him not knowing what it was before he needed to. At least I could avoid humiliation as long as possible.

...And maybe I wouldn't have to tell Riku, either! I mean, why should I? It's none of his business...or maybe it is...

...I cast those thoughts aside for the moment, focusing on the task at hand.

"So...are you a student here?" I asked, returning my gaze to his face.

"Uhhh.....no..." he seemed slightly confused. "I'm a substitute teacher...remember? I told you yesterday." My eyebrows rose a little in suprise. Had he? I didn't remember that....

I felt a slight blush form on my cheeks, and I saw Demyx chuckling. Well, smooth, Axel. Real damn smooth.

"Oh...sorry," I mumbled, scratching the back of my neck sheepishly. He laughed.

"It's okay," he said when he had stopped laughing, "I mean, I can't expect you to remember everything, right?" He was smiling, again, and I began to stare. I couldn't help it! He was so...

...I snapped out of it when he began to frown a bit, and I quickly replied. "Uh, sure," I said lamely, and his smile was back. "So...what do you teach?" His whole face brightened when I asked this, and he seemed excited to tell me.

"I teach music class. Well, I substitute teach, anyway." He laughed a little, and then continued. "It's really fun. Some of the students are really gifted. But some of them...well, they just need to learn how to pay attention." He frowned when he said this, but quickly turned his frown upside down (what the hell? Did I just say that?) and continued in the same upbeat, perky tone he had been before. "I love music. Do you like music?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I guess," I replied, shrugging, "who doesn't?" His smile grew when I said this, and he nodded in agreement.

"Do you play any instruments?"

"Nope." His face fell a bit when I said this, but, as usual, it quickly perked up again.

"I play sitar, guitar, banjo, violin, cello, and tambarine. Sitar is my favorite." He seemed very proud of this, and my mouth dropped in amazement. Wow. That's a lot of, uh...instruments. Heh, and I didn't even play one. He must think I'm a total loser. "And Zexion plays the flute and the clarinet." I noticed his smile soften a bit, and he looked up into space for a second with a fond look in his eyes. His blue eyes...wow, they really were blue...

He snapped out of it a second later and snapped his fingers. "Speaking of which, I'm actually supposed to meet him somewhere right now," he said, grabbing an instrument case and walking towards me. "You wanna come? We're gonna grab some lunch." I smiled but shook my head.

"Nah, thanks. I should head home." He seemed a bit disappointed, but he smiled nevertheless, and shrugged.

"Okay. Well, I guess I'll seeya later!" He waved and smiled, then exited the room. I watched him go and when he was out of eye-shot I sighed. Wow.

Gah, stop that, Axel! I smacked myself mentally, shaking my head as I exited the room as well.

*** * ***

I had been standing outside of Wakka's surf shop for a while now, I didn't know exactly how long, but an hour, at least. And, sure enough, after about half an hour of standing outside the shop door, advertising in a rather flattering surfer suit, complete with surf board, the girls (and guys) came rushing in. Practically every time someone walked by they would come in, and most would either wink, giggle, blush, whistle or try to flirt with me. To tell you the truth, it was getting kind of annoying. And wearing the suit in that heat for hours wasn't helping my mood, either. Luckily, Wakka let me come in every now and then, get a drink and cool off for a bit. But then it was back to advertising.

He had wanted me to advertise shirtless at first, to which I said 'no' (boy was I glad he was around my age, or I probably would have done whatever he said), but I began regretting refusing his request. Swimming trunks and a bare chest would certainly feel much better in Twilight Town's summer heat than a surfing outfit. On top of that, I was directly in the sun.

I could feel my skin burning--well, what was showing, anyway. Sheesh, if this was what it was gonna be like all summer at this job, then maybe I _would_ go for the shirtless advertising.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and slumped my shoulders, holding the large surf board with my other hand. And that was just another thing to worry about. What about in the winter? Surely Wakka wouldn't keep his surf shop open during the winter? And what about Axel's job? Apparently he was working at the school, and this school year would be ending very soon. What then?

I rolled my eyes as I thought about the unintelligent red-head. It was just like Axel to get a job that would be ending soon. Well, until after summer, that is, when school started up again.

Man, was I thirsty! How long had I been standing out here without a break? An hour? It felt like longer. I sighed exasperatedly and turned to go inside. Just a short break, that's all I needed. A short time to cool down, re-hydrate myself, try to think about how desperately we needed this munny so I wouldn't just drop it then and there.

The shop door opened with a 'ding' and I immediately felt cool air hit me like a bomb. It felt so good. A sigh of relief escaped me, and Wakka looked over at me from the counter in amusement. I smiled politely and he smiled and stood, heading to the back room again (and I hoped it was to get me some water).

"Didn't you just take a break, mon?" he asked suspiciously, coming back out with another bottle of water. I smiled and nodded gratefully, taking the bottle and opening it rather hastily.

"I dunno...I...suppose it wasn't too long ago." I shrugged sheepishly, and he chuckled. Lifting the bottle to my lips, I began to chug down as much water as I could as fast as I could.

"Woah, woah, woah mon! Don't choke yourself!" Wakka exclaimed from beside me, and I slowly and hesitantly lowered the nearly-empty bottle from my mouth, smiling sheepishly. "Woah, mon." He seemed distracted by something else all of a sudden, and he was staring at my face. I furrowed my brow in confusion.

"What?" I asked warily, and he laughed at my reaction.

"Your skin burns like a baby's bottom!" He laughed, and I blushed, although I suppose he couldn't tell because of my apparent sunburn. Well, my cheeks had been burning pretty bad.

"Well, what did I tell you? Now you know why I try to stay in the shade." He laughed and I laughed, and suddenly the shop door burst open. I turned to look in suprise, and saw a rather energetic-looking brunette bounding towards us.

"Hiya!" he greeted cheerily, and I couldn't help smiling at his beaming face. I heard Wakka answer with a 'yo, mon!' to the seemingly younger looking boy, and I nodded my greeting. He stopped a few feet away from us, putting both his hands on his hips and looking up at me curiously. Boy, was he short! And those eyes...they were impossibly blue, and huge! "Who is this, Wakka?" I could tell Wakka was about to answer, but I answered for him.

"Riku." The boy smiled, and waved.

"I'm Sora," he introduced himself, jabbing his thumb into his chest. I nodded in understanding, a calm smile still resting on my lips.

"He's my new employee!" Wakka informed 'Sora', and you could hear the pride in his voice. Sora laughed and put one hand back on his hip.

"Wow, that's awesome! I'm one of Wakka's best customers," he exclaimed, and then chuckled, pointing at my face, "looks like someone's been out in the sun too long." I blushed very slightly, and it quickly went away.

"Yeah, well, we have Wakka to thank for that," I replied, throwing a playful glare over at the orange-haired teen. Sora laughed, and I smiled.

"Jeez, Wakka, you finally get an employee around here and you make him get a sun burn?" Sora laughed, crossing his tiny arms across his thin chest. Sheesh, the whole boy was tiny. Such a tiny body with all that crazy hair...and what a tan he had.

Wait...that hair...those eyes...it was him! That kid that had bumped into me the other day!

Wakka shrugged and Sora laughed again, uncrossing his arms and walking past us, shaking his head. Both me and Wakka turned to watch him at the same time as he sat down behind the counter, where Wakka usually would.

"Hey, now," Wakka began, taking a few steps towards Sora so that he was closer, "just because you're my second-best customer doesn't mean you can sit behind _my_ counter." Sora chuckled, and once again a smile graced my features. To tell the truth, I wasn't even sure if it had left at all. "And you," Wakka continued, turning to me with an acusing finger pointed, "you better get back to work, young man!" I straightened my back and saluted playfully, at which Sora laughed, and I turned and headed for the door.

"It was nice meeting you, Sora," I said before exiting, turning to bow gracefully. Sora laughed again, and I smiled victoriously before exiting the shop.

Where the hell had that come from?

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**A/N: Well, I hope you liked it! I thought that this chapter was a pretty good length, so...hopefully that will make up for my lateness!**

**Yeah, I dunno. Deal. lol**

**Well, review if you like, alerts and favorites are great, but if you write you should know that reviews are what really gets you going! So thanks to all who have favorited and/or alerted this story and/or me, now review! =D**

**Thanks to **_**flurry of dancing flame**_** for beta'ing!**

**All flames will be used for Axel's enjoyment.**

**P.S. To those of you who actually remember that Sora was in a big hurry in the last chapter, and that's why he bumped into Riku, don't worry, you'll find out why he was in such a hurry in later chapters! :)**


	5. Chapter 4: When Birds Attack

**Disclaimer: I, orgymoogle, do not own **_**Kingdom Hearts **_**(none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. Nor do I own any of the plots, storylines or any of its other geniusness. I am merely an obsessed fangirl.**

**A/N: Heya guys!! Sorry it took me so long to update! Geez, I thought I was finally getting better at this, lol**

**Actually I just couldn't figure out what to write for this chapter for a while. Plus I keep getting myself grounded. :P**

**I have beta fish to thank for the evil bird idea (you'll see what I mean (beta fish says it seems fitting for Sora doesn't it?)) and without her advice I would probably still be stuck with no idea for what to write for this chapter. Yeah. So, for any readers who were wondering, now you'll know why Sora was in such a hurry in the other chapter. lol xD**

**Speaking of thanks, THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR REVIEWS AND ALERTS AND FAVORITES!!! AND IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANY OF THAT, WELL...THANKS FOR READING!!!! I LOVE YOU!! :D**

**Yupp...so...I guess that's basically it...enjoy! Read, review if you can, and stay tuned for more!**

**Warnings: Slight cussing, boyxboy, evil birds, the usual. lol**

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

_Music_

_Chapter 4: When Birds Attack_

Well, being a janitor sucked. I had learned that on my first day as one of them, at Twilight Town High. You have no idea how many crumpled up pieces of paper, chewed gum, spilled drinks, and dirt I had already cleaned up that day--and it wasn't even lunch hour yet! Not to mention the obnoxious writings on the walls that I had to hand-scrub. Honestly, these kids were terrible. And I didn't even wanna _think_ about the bathrooms! No way I was going in there--they could get some other janitor to do it! They had other janitors, right? They didn't expect one single, poor, helpless, weak janitor to be able to pick up after all of those trolls, did they?

Hmm...I should make a new rule: PICK UP AFTER YOURSELVES. They had parents, didn't they? Didn't mothers usually teach kids this stuff? These were highschoolers for goodness' sake! 'Course...I guess that was probably it, huh? They were teenagers. Obnoxious, destructive teenagers. Heh, guess I probably wasn't any better when I was their age....

Anyway, I was yet to see Demyx that day, which was also kinda bumming my mood. The cheery blonde seemed awful social...but he hadn't even said 'hi' to me that day! Not that I cared much or anything, it was just kinda weird...

I had actually thought about asking his boyfriend where the blondie was, but the kid always seemed in a rush to get to class. Psshh. Nerd.

I sighed, glancing up at an old-fashioned clock hanging on the wall. Why didn't they just use digital clocks? They were so much easier to read. Eh, I guess it _was_ a school. They had to 'challenge' the kids or whatever. Or maybe I was just stupid.

Pssh. As if.

Classes were about to get out, and then it was time for lunch. Great. More messes to clean up. I really hoped I would get used to this. I wondered in the back of my mind how Riku was doing with his job. It was probably really easy, and he was probably great at it. He always was.

I cursed him silently. Why couldn't the kid have a damn fault? He was attractive, charming, good at everything...everyone always liked him better.

Hmph. Good for nothing--

My thoughts were interrupted when the school bell rang, and teenagers immediately rushed out of their classes. Bodies of all different heights and sizes filled the school hallways that were empty just moments ago, and I didn't bother moving my little bucket of dirty water to make it easier for them to go by. Why should I? They didn't deserve it, the little litterers. Or not so little, I discovered as I watched a little (beta fish says, direct contradiction?) chubby guy walk to his locker. His hair was black and it was sticking up with a sweatband tied around his head. Huh. What a weird hairstyle.

'Course, guess mine wasn't any less...uhh...well, then again mine was actually pretty cool...his just looked kinda....

Anyway.

As I watched lockers open and close, friends chatting with one another, kids going into the cafeteria to eat their greasy, fattening food (geez, what's with me and fat people today?), I noticed three other kids move to chat with him. They were all fairly attractive, and...woah. Woah, woah, woah (beta fish EEEEEEEPS at Reno!ness)!

Gingery blonde hair that stuck out in spikes, huge, cerulean blue eyes that glistened in the poor light of the hallway, rosy cheeks, pink lips, the face of an angel...and short. All of these delightful features were mixed together and splattered on a certain tiny, adorable teen.

I hadn't seen him the other day while at the school--I'm not sure how anyone could _not_ notice someone who looked like that-- but now that I saw him...wow.

"Surprise!"

I yelped when I heard the sudden noise come from behind me, spinning around and almost knocking into the host of said noise. I frowned when I saw who it was. Demyx. He was doubled-over laughing, clutching his stomach like it hurt.

"Hey!" I snapped irritatedly, balling my hands into fists. He stopped laughing a few moments later, standing up and exhaling deeply, chuckling a bit as he did so.

"Sorry," he replied, grinning toothily. I rolled my eyes, and he continued smiling. "So, who're you checking out?" he asked, putting one hand on his hip. I raised one eyebrow suspiciously.

"Whaddya mean?"

"I saw you staring at someone," he pointed out, dropping his arm so that it rested limply at his side.

"Oh." My eyebrow regained its normal composure, and I shifted my gaze to the floor. A few seconds went by and I looked back up at him, then turned my back. "I...wasn't _staring_ at anyone."

"Yeah you were." I turned back to face him.

"No, I wasn't."

"Yeah, you were." I sighed, then turned again. The group of friends I had been watching were still there.

"Who is that?" I pointed to the small group, and he looked over my shoulder.

"It is rude to point, you know." Came a different voice. Me and Demyx both turned at the same time to see Zexion standing there, holding a few books to his chest with both arms in a sort of crossed-arm position.

"Zexy!" Demyx cheered, moving to hug his emo-haired boyfiend. I watched as said boyfriend smiled at the contact. Hmm. "You gonna eat in the library today? Or do you wanna go to the park?" Demyx asked him cheerily, and he shrugged.

"I do not care. Either one." Demyx's smile only widened.

"Okay! Let's go to the park, then." He turned to me and flashed a toothy grin. "You wanna come?" It took me a moment to register that he was talking to me, and when I finally did it took me a moment to reply.

"Uhh...sure." I shrugged, and then added on, "If you guys don't mind," as an afterthought.

"I don't mind! What about you, Zexion?" Said boy shook his head.

"I do not mind (beta fish says what are you, an Elf? ...and apologizes for interrupting your reading yet again...)." But somehow I got the feeling he wasn't all that happy about me coming.

Ah well.

"Great! Let's get going, I'm starved!" Demyx turned to start leaving, and then turned back to me. "Did you pack a lunch?" I blinked. Actually, all I had was a granola bar (beta fish says eat Nutri-Grain instead, Axel! esso yummy~)....

"No," I replied hesitantly, and he smiled.

"That's okay. When we go to the park to eat we usually get something on the way there." He didn't wait for me to answer, and started walking off, dragging Zexion along with him. "C'mon!" he shouted over his shoulder. I hurriedly followed after them, throwing off my janitor suit and bucket and mop on the way and stuffing them into some random closet.

* * *

Alright, this was getting ridiculous. The heat of this place was unbearable. Did it always get this hot during the summer in Twilight Town? If so, then I definitely would not be able to continue working there. Unless Wakka gathered the decency to not make me stand out in the burning sun in a friggin' black surfer suit!

At least he was cool guy. And he was smart--well, at least to some extent. His plan was working, just as it had before. People walked by, went in, bought stuff, and it was almost like he was running a normal little business. Other than the fact that I was his only employee. For some reason.

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. Mmm...I felt kinda dizzy...hopefully I wouldn't get heat stroke or anything.

But suddenly, I saw something out of the corner of my eye that quickly caught my attention. Untamable brown spikes could be seen sticking out from behind some random barrels. They just sat there, like the boy they belonged to was hiding from something. Was seeking shelter behind the barrels.

I cocked an eyebrow up in suspicion. That was odd. They remained still for a few more moments, and just when I was about to say something a head popped up. Familiar blue eyes searched the area warily, and then landed on me. They shot up in suprise and relief, and soon I wasn't only looking at a head with brown spikes, but rather a whole tiny body...minus the legs. The barrels were still covering those up.

"Hiya," he whispered and came over towards me, hunched over like he was sneaking. I gave him a weird look and waved a little. He reached me shortly and stood close beside me, still kind of hunched over.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my eyebrow still raised. He shook his head, like he couldn't tell me out in the open. He then signaled with his finger for me to come closer, and, hesitantly, I did. But apparently I wasn't close enough because he yanked me closer and whispered in my ear,

"I'm hiding." My brow furrowed.

"From what?" I guess I spoke too loudly, because he scolded me with a harsh 'sssh!!'. "Oh, sory," I replied, and then tried again, whispering like he was, "from what?"

"From _them_." I gave him a puzzled expression.

"Who's _them_?" He didn't reply though, and instead dragged me inside the shop we were standing in front of. The cool air hit me like a bomb, and I was suddenly very thankful Sora had come to Wakka's shop. I had almost forgotten how hot I was (beta fish says lurlz), and felt like I would have fainted if I had stood out there any longer.

"Phew! Made it inside," the brunette said with relief as the little bell on the door made the dinging sound that was slowly becoming familiar to me. Wakka poked his head out from one of the aisles he must have been working in, and smiled.

"Hey, hey, hey! I didn't say you could have a break, mon!" he scolded me, and I ducked my head down in faked shame.

"Sorry, your Majesty," I replied sarcastically, nodding my 'respect'.

"Yeah, you better be sorry," he mumbled, playing along as he headed towards the back, most likely getting some water for his over-worked servant. Me.

Sora laughed. "Give him a break, Wakka. He looked like he was about to faint." He laughed again, and suddenly there was a water bottle flying towards me. I caught it easily, suprised at my own reflexes. I saw Wakka and realized that he must have been the one who threw the water bottle at me.

"Yeah, yeah," I heard Wakka reply to Sora, sitting down at his counter. I opened the water bottle and lifted it to my mouth, instantly being refreshed as the ice cold water ran down my throat. When I was done and had drunk almost the entire bottle, I nodded my thanks to Wakka. "So," Wakka began again, "what brings you here today anyway, Sora?" Sora rolled his eyes as if it was obvious.

"You know I wouldn't miss a chance to see my favorite orange-haired buddy!" he replied, and then turned to me and continued. "And relieve this poor guy from the heat." He laughed again, and I smiled. Wakka shook his head.

"Yeah, yeah. I know you're just trying to seek shelter from your imaginary bird stalkers." Sora frowned.

"For the millionth time, _Wakka_," he emphasized Wakka's name in frustration, "they're not imaginary!" Wakka rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, Sora." Sora 'hmmph'ed and turned, and when he wasn't looking Wakka twirled a finger around next to his head, directing it at Sora in the world-reknowned 'crazy' gesture. I chuckled and he grinned, and then Sora looked back in suspicion. We both stopped and looked away, and I scratched the back of my neck sheepishly.

"So, uh," I began before Sora could, "what birds?" Sora seemed to forget about what we were just doing and his face grew a look of craze and fear.

"It's actually only one bird," he corrected me, shrinking back into his 'sneaky' position. "It stalks me." My eyebrow went up again, and he stood up straight, giving me the same look he had given Wakka moments ago. "You don't believe me, do you?" he asked, a flat glare on his face. I looked away, rubbing my arm.

"Well...."

"I am NOT crazy! There really is a bird stalking me!" I put my arms up in surrender.

"Alright, alright! Whatever you say." He huffed frustratedly, obviously not buying it.

"Fine! If you won't believe me, I'll just show you!" I didn't have time to reply before he grabbed my arm and was dragging me out of Wakka's shop.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where d'ya think you're goin' mon? I need him to work for me!" Wakka called after us.

"Yeah, yeah! I'll bring him back!"

* * *

It didn't take us long to get to the park. The birds were chirping, dogs and owners were playing together, leaves were...well, not doing anything, really. Luckily, there were lots of trees for shade. Not that I minded the heat, but you never know when Demyx or Zexion might have started whining about it. Then again, I guess if they had chosen to go to the park they were prepared.

We had stopped by a small food place near the park before we got there. They had both gotten something but I, having no munny to spend there, simply stated that I wasn't hungry. Demyx seemed confused, but shrugged it off.

They chose a nice, shaded spot under a large oak tree, on a small hill a little ways away from the main park. They both sat under it like it was routine, and I figured they came here a lot. After all, when they were deciding where to go at the school Demyx had said 'park or library?', so I guess that kinda confirmed it.

I sat kinda awkwardly beside Demyx, and when I was situated I took a longer moment to look around. The little hill didn't have much of a view, but it was nice, quiet and peaceful. Although I myself preferred more sun. I guessed it was probably Zexion's choice to sit somewhere so shady--Demyx was obviously the more...happy one.

Now that I thought about it, they were a rather odd pair.

"Aww, he forgot the pickle again." I heard Demyx complain from beside me. I glanced over to see him looking into his brown paper bag that held his food.

"You could have reminded him, you know," Zexion replied, taking the apparent sandwich he had gotten out of his own bag...and...was that...a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? What food place sold peanut butter and jelly sandwichs? Next he pulled out a small salad, and then placed his bag aside.

"PB and J?" I questioned, and both of them looked at me. "Who sells that?"

Demyx laughed. "They don't. Well, not for anyone else, that is. Whenever we come here to eat lunch we usually stop by there, and Zexy's vegetarian, so he doesn't eat a lot of the food that they sell there. So they make peanut butter sandwiches and salads for him instead." He laughed and then continued. "It's kind of a joke, but Zexion eats it, so," he shrugged and smiled. Zexion had looked down at his food at some point during Demyx's story, and I could tell he was a bit embarrassed by being talked about. I think Demyx sensed it, too, and he looked over at Zexion and laughed. "Aww, c'mon, Zexy," he began, wrapping one arm around him, "you shouldn't be so embarrassed." Demyx chuckled.

"Eat your food," Zexion ordered, and Demyx grinned.

"Yes ma'am!" Of course, Demyx got hit right in the ribs for that one, but he still grinned through the pain, seemingly laughing at how suprisingly strong Zexion's hit was. Or at least it looked like it hurt, which was suprising because Zexion didn't look like a very strong person.

I laughed at Demyx's pain, something that came naturally to me. Wow, that sounded kinda...mean. But c'mon, who didn't laugh at other people's pain? It was pretty damn funny sometimes!

Demyx did obey orders, however, and began eating what looked like rice balls filled with some kind of meat.

We sat there for a while, Demyx and Zexion ate, we all talked--although Demyx and I did most of the talking. Especially Demyx.

"So, where'd you move here from?" Demyx asked, his mouth full of rice and meat.

"Destiny Islands."

"Woah, really? That's so cool! I would LOVE to live on an island!" His whole face brightened, and he got really exicted. I noticed out of the corner of my eye the uncomfortable expression on his boyfriend's face, like he didn't like Demyx talking about going away and living on an island. "I go to the beach a lot and surf and stuff," he continued, not noticing Zexion's aura, I suppose. "I love water." He beamed.

"Eh," I replied, wrinkling my nose in disgust. "I prefer dry land, thank you very much." His face drooped a bit.

"Oh...you don't like water?" I shook my head.

"Not really." He sighed.

"Man, I thought I finally found someone close to my age who likes water." I gave a confused look.

"Isn't Zexion close to your age?" He looked at me and then chuckled.

"That's not what I meant. Zexion thinks water is okay, but it isn't his favorite." He turned to smile at said boy, and I nodded slowly.

"There's always Sora, I guess. Even though he's...well, a lot younger than me." Demyx laughed.

"I am younger than you, too, you know," Zexion stated, and Demyx grinned.

"Not _as_ young," he replied, and Zexion rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, about one year's difference." Demyx laughed...again. Geez, was this guy happy or what?

They finished eating and we headed back towards the school. But we stopped about half way.

"Well, I gotta head back to campus now," Demyx stated, directing it towards me. "Seeya later!" He gave his boyfriend a short kiss and waved to me, then went his seperate way.

I looked at Zexion. He was still watching him go, but then noticed me looking at him and turned to look at me, too. "So..."

"So let's go," he said, and turned to continue walking to the school. "I do not want to be late for class." I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, ma'am," I copied Demyx from earlier and walked past Zexion, but soon realized that I had to run to dodge his attack. I laughed as I raced back to the school, Zexion following close behind me.

* * *

"Be quiet, we can't let him see us."

Both of us were crouched down behind a low wall, in the shade thanks to another, taller wall behind us. I wasn't sure what we were looking at, I myself couldn't see anything, but Sora was looking around nervously, searching the area for something. A bird. At least, that's what he said. I wasn't sure if there really was a bird stalking him, or if he was just some kind of crazy weirdo. It was probably the latter.

Which was actually a real bummer, because the other day I had really started to like this kid...

"There he is," he whispered to me, grabbing my arm and pointing to something, wide-eyed. I followed his finger, but I still couldn't see anything. I squinted my eyes to try and get a better look, but still nothing.

"I still don't see anything," I sighed, standing up. He gasped and tried to pull me back down, panickingly.

"No! He'll see us!!" I didn't let him pull me down though, and he dropped to the ground in defeat. I rolled my eyes.

"Sora, there's nothing there. Besides, why would a bird be stalking you?" I asked incredulously, but he didn't answer. He was lying on his stomach on the ground, trying to hide. He was trying to hold still but he was shaking. Honestly, what was wrong with this kid?

And then, all of a sudden, I heard a noise. A squeaky noise. A bird.

I told myself not to get carried away as I calmly looked around me. Okay, so what if there was a bird around here? Birds were everywhere. What was it gonna do, attack us?

Almost as if I had predicted what was going to happen, a bird came swooping in out of nowhere. It was flying right towards me, so suddenly that I barely had the chance to move before it pecked me hard on the shoulder.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, and Sora quickly glanced up in alarm. And, upon seeing the bird fly past us, his face turned into a sea of fear.

"OH MY GAWD! It found us!!" he shouted, jumping to his feet.

"Wha--!" But before I could finish what I was saying Sora had grabbed my arm and he was dragging me out of there. He was running at a very fast pace, but I could easily catch up with him. My legs kicked into gear and soon I was running alongside him, although he was still clinging to my wrist. "What the hell?!" I exclaimed as I felt the bird peck me two more times. Sora yelped and started going even faster, almost tripping a few times.

"I told you!" he yelled but didn't stop running.

The bird chased us for a couple of blocks until we lost it hitching a ride on the train to Sunset Station. I had never been there before, I was just following Sora the whole way. The clocktower looked pretty impressive when you were standing--or rather running, in our case--right under it.

When we got on the train we collapsed into some seats, panting heavily. Geez, how far had we run? It must've been pretty far, 'cuz I felt beat. Everyone else on the train was looking at us oddly, but we ignored them. After catching our breath, a grin slowly spread across my face. And then I started laughing.

Sora gave me an odd look, and when I could stop laughing enough to explain, I did. "I can't believe what just happened! That bird was crazy!" I laughed, and after a few blank blinks a grin spread across Sora's face and he started laughing, too.

"I know! It does that all the time! It's like, crazy!"

"For a second there I thought _you_ were crazy." We both paused for a moment and looked at each other, and then we burst into another fit of laughter. It felt good to laugh. I hadn't laughed like that for a while....

When the train got to Sunset Station we both got off with grins on our faces. The other passengers were giving us even weirder looks, but we didn't care. I followed Sora as he led me down several flights of stairs and then through a small town. It was really beautiful there, and the sunset was spectacular.

We made small talk on the way to...well, wherever we were going, but suddenly Sora stopped. Grinning, he gestured to the hill we were standing on.

"This is Sunset Hill," he announced proudly, walking to sit on one of the few benches there. I followed him and was going to sit down beside him, only I got distracted by the amazing view of the sunset.

"Woah...this hill has an amazing view," I breathed, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that his grin widened and he nodded.

"Yup," the brunette began, turning on the bench so that he was sitting on his knees, facing the sunset like I was, "this is the most amazing view in all of Twilight Town...except for maybe the clocktower."

"You can go up there?" I asked in mild suprise.

"Sure! Me and Roxas go up there all the time." Roxas? Who was Roxas?

"Who's Roxas?" I asked, sitting down on the bench in the same position as Sora.

"He's my brother. Twin, actually." He grinned at me, and I turned to look at him.

"Twin, huh? That's cool." I smiled and he spoke again.

"Do you have any siblings?" My smile weakened and I sighed.

"Yup. Six of em'." His face showed astonishment.

"Woah! Six siblings? That must be crazy!" he laughed, and I grinned at him.

"Yeah, it is pretty crazy..." I trailed off, and we both looked back at the sunset. It was getting lower and lower every second...it would be dark soon. I needed to get back home. I stood and he looked at me curiously. "I should go, it's getting late," I stated, and he smiled and nodded in understanding.

"I'll come with you."

We rode back in comfortable silence, and when we got there we headed our seperate ways.

"G'night, seeya later!" Sora chirped, waving happily. I smiled and waved back.

"Seeya."

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**A/N: Yay! Chapter four complete! I know, I know, I should prolly get on with the plot, huh? I just don't want to rush it...I mean, its only the fourth chapter, and I want them to have time to get to know each other and everything. So...yeah.**

**Thanks to my beta fish, **_**flurry of dancing flames**_**, for beta reading and drawing me Riku porn. xD**

**I hope you liked it! I'll try to update again soon! Thanks for reading! Review! :D**

**All flames will be used for Axel's enjoyment.**

**P.S. If you like this story and some of my other stories, just wanna let you know that I'll be posting another KH fanfic soon! It's AkuRoku, so...yeah lol Be sure to check that out! ;)**

**~orgymoogle**


	6. Chapter 5: Twins and Belly Button Shirts

**Disclaimer: I, orgymoogle, do not own _Kingdom Hearts_ (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. Nor do I own the plots, storylines, or any of its other geniusness. I am merely an obsessed fangirl writing a fanfiction.**

**A/N: OMGYAYEZFIFTHCHAPTER! Humhumhum...5,000 or more words in this chapter...I hope you guys are grateful. xD ANYWHO, sorry it always takes me so long to update...I'm still trying to work on that! And um...I'm not really sure quite where this story is going. xDD DON'T GET ME WRONG! There is a plot, I promise! I'm just still introducing a bit right now...but anyway, that's actually not what I was referring to. See, originally when I created this story, it was supposed to be DemAku, but...I don't really like DemAku. :/ SOOO...I'm thinking there will probably be more Zemyx, Soriku and Akuroku...and probably onesided DemAku...sorry to whoever wanted DemAku! -dodges bricks-**

**GUESS WHAT. I GET TO BE IN A PLAY! YAYEZ! Yeah...actually, I had to spend the night at my BFF's house last night (which I didn't mind), only I couldn't fall asleep for some reason...so I ended up finally falling asleep at like, 6:00 a.m. only then I had to wake up at 7:00 a.m. because we had to go to drama rehearsal...BUT I GOT A DONUT!! It was yummy. I love Mrs. Loose (my drama teacher)!**

**Anywho...on with the show! I hope you enjoy!**

**P.S. Towards the end of this chapter I got kind of lazy...cuz I wrote it today and I haven't really gotten any sleep, sooo...yeah. Basically from Axel's last part in the cafeteria to the end was written...umm...yeeeah. O.o**

* * *

_Music_

_Chapter 5: Twins and Belly-Button Shirts_

"Please stop crying," I begged for the millionth time that day, hoping that for once gaia might hear my plea. The little toddler in my arms happened to be extremely whiny that day, and Wakka was getting impatient. And why, you ask, was I holding a crying toddler while at work? Because my unhelpful, selfish, immature younger sisters, Kairi and Naminé, had dropped him, along with our other two bundle of joys, off at the surf shop. Yes, that's right; Terra, Aqua _and_little Ven were currently at Wakka's surf shop.

"Riku...not that your siblings aren't adorable and all, but...when is **that** one," Wakka indignantly pointed to Ven, who was still crying, "going to shut up? I have a business to run here, you know!" he finished impatiently, crossing his arms.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry! My sisters are supposed to be watching them..." I looked down at Ven with pleading eyes, and wondered silently if he was trying to get me fired. Wakka sighed and shook his head, and it looked like he was about to say something else, but then Aqua spoke up.

"I know how to get him to stop crying," she said innocently, hands folded behind her back. I raised a suspicious eyebrow, but then bent down to her level so she could show me. I'm not sure what posessed me to do such a thing, knowing my younger siblings...perhaps it was because of how innocent she looked and how incredibly desperate I was. But, after she punched the poor toddler, his crying only increased.

"Aqua!" I yelled scoldingly, while Wakka proceded to turn around and throw his arms up in the air in dramatic defeat. "Why'd you do that?" I asked, cradling Ven gently in a sad attempt to get him to calm down. Luckily she hadn't hit him too hard.

"Because he's so annoying!" she yelled back at me in her tiny voice, which could be suprisingly loud. I rolled my eyes, and then Terra came over from where he was sitting at Wakka's counter.

"Don't hit Ven!" he said angrily, and then proceded to punch Aqua in the arm. She screamed and I scolded Terra, taking slightly notice of Wakka over at his counter, covering his ears frustratedly. I was so getting fired.

Suddenly, the front door of the shop opened and in stepped none other than Sora. At first he seemed confused, what with all of the little kids screaming and hitting each other. I waved to him mildly, a desperate and helpless look on my face. But suddenly he smiled--no, more like grinned, and it looked like he was about to laugh.

"Are these your siblings?" I furrowed my brow in slight confusion and nodded slowly.

"Uh...yeah. Well, some of them, anyway...how do you know I have--?" But I didn't have to finish my sentence before Sora nodded in Wakka's direction.

"Wakka told me about them."

"Oh."

"So, how long has he been crying?" the brunette asked, coming over to stand in front of me. I sighed.

"Like, ten minutes." Sora chuckled, and I gave him a flat glare. "It's not funny." He only laughed more and took Ven from my arms, holding him up in the air. I raised an amused eyebrow when Sora then brought him up to his face so that both of their faces were only inches away. It didn't take long before Ven stopped crying, and both Wakka and I stared at Sora in astonishment. Sora lowered the baby into his arms after a few moments, and grinned when he saw our expressions. "What the...how did you...?" I couldn't even find the right words to say. Sora laughed and shrugged.

"Babies love me."

"Well, thank Gaia for that," Wakka said, standing back up and walking over to us. Terra and Aqua were staring up at Sora curiously. Sora only seemed to take real notice of them then, and he grinned down at them.

"Hi there!" Terra waved happily and Aqua just stared up at him. "What are your names?"

"I'm Terra!" the energetic kid replied, grinning.

"Aqua," the little blue-haired girl mumbled.

"Wow, that's a really pretty name, Aqua." Said girl blushed and scratched behind her ear. Sora, who had bent down so that he was at their level, stood back up, still smiling. "So, shouldn't you be advertising, Riku?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, probably," I sighed again, slumping my shoulders slightly, "but my sisters left these three with me." I looked down at the three Rug Rats, as Axel liked to call them, hopelessly. Sora looked thoughtful for a moment, and then his face brightened.

"I know! Why don't I watch them for you?" I furrowed my brow.

"Really?"

"Yeah, why not? Like I said, kids love me!" He was grinning hugely, and waiting anxiously for a reply.

"Well...if you really want to," I replied, slightly unsure. He nodded and bent down to Terra and Aqua.

"Whaddaya say, guys? Do you wanna come hang out with me for a while?" Terra nodded eagerly, and Aqua shrugged. "Alright!" He stood back up, still holding little Ven in his arms. "Well then, I guess we'll see you guys later," he grinned encouragingly to me, and took Aqua's hand. "C'mon."

Sora walked out with the three of them, and for some reason a wary feeling came over me...like I had just handed my younger siblings over to some weirdo kidnapper or something. I looked over at Wakka, a slightly worried expression now present on my features. But Wakka seemed to ignore my worries and just shrugged. "You'd better get back to work, Riku."

* * *

By the time I got to my fifth day of work as a janitor, I had lost track of how many kids had hit on me. Now normally you wouldn't expect teenagers, or anyone else, really, to hit on a janitor, but for me, the sexiest thing alive, there were quite a few exceptions.

Now, I didn't go walking around in that god-forsaken janitor suit, because seriously, that thing only belonged in hell...or on someone who wasn't important. I, however, deserved a much better wardrobe than that. So far I hadn't gotten in trouble for not wearing the janitor outfit, and I hoped it would stay that way. Actually, I think the principle liked my skin-tight clothing along with everyone else. How typical.

I sauntered down the hallway of the school and over to the cluttered janitor's closet to get started. I crinkled my nose at the all-too-powerful smell of cleaning supplies in the room--I had learned, in the past few days, to just grab what I needed and get out of there as quick as possible. I rolled out the cart of cleaning tools and when the door was shut I sighed. Being a janitor really wasn't fun.

I silently wondered if there were any other job offers around, but then I reminded myself that I had searched all day and hadn't found another one. I don't know how Riku got so lucky. Oh wait, that's right; that stuck-up bastard is always lucky.

I pushed the cart down another hallway, towards the main locker space. The teenager's faces were starting to get familiar to me; there was one chubby little dude who seemed to like taking pictures, and his two friends, the loud-mouthed one and the seemingly-responsible girl...and then that other one, with the spiky, ginger blonde hair and big blue eyes. There was also a brunette who hung out with them a lot, but I didn't see him right then. Actually, he looked a lot like the blondy. I often wondered if they were twins, even though their personalities were so different they could've been from two different worlds.

The blonde was quiet, shy, and not very optimistic, and the brunette was...the total opposite, really. It was kinda funny to watch...not that I stalked them, or anything. I was the friggin' janitor.

Something in the back of my mind suddenly reminded me to watch out for that bubbly, gay, sitar-obsessed college student who seemed to like scaring the hell out of me. I don't know how he did it, but he could suddenly pop out of nowhere in an instant! You'd think that someone like him would be loud and clumsy when trying to suprise someone...and maybe he was and I just hadn't noticed. After all, each time he suprised me I had been distracted by something else.

It was then I noticed his little emo boyfriend standing in front of his locker, looking slightly more depressed than usual...okay, so maybe he didn't usually look depressed, but he didn't exactly look happy, either. Anywho, not having much else to do except for my job, I walked up to him and leaned against the locker next to his, folding my arms across my chest.

"Hey," I greeted, and he looked up at me and nodded.

"Hello, Axel," he replied politely, then turned back to whatever he was doing in his locker. My gaze drifted away from the teen standing next to me and back to the blonde boy, whose name I still didn't know, thanks to Zexion. I wasn't sure how long I had been staring at him, again, but suddenly I heard a familiar soft voice come from beside me. "If you want to meet him so badly then just go say "hello"." I glanced down at the shorter male, and then sighed, thinking over what he had just said.

I mean, yeah, I could waltz over and actually talk to the kid, but he had friends, and...sure, I was drop dead sexy, but what was I supposed to say to him? "Yeah, I know..." I trailed off, and Zexion raised an eyebrow.

"So why don't you?" I half-glared down at him and was about to open my mouth to say something when the bell began to ring. He shut his locker door and I got off of the locker I'd been leaning on, watching as all of the teens headed to class. "Well, I'll see you later," Zexion said and began to walk away. I smirked and saluted him with two fingers, muttering a "see ya" as he left.

* * *

It was getting close to sunset and Sora still hadn't returned with the kids. My shift was almost over, and I was, thankfully, back in my own clothes. I was getting kind of worried, even though Wakka kept reassuring me that they would be back soon. I don't think he even believed himself, though.

Ugh...another twenty minutes and they still weren't back! What was I thinking, anyway? Leaving all three of my younger siblings with some teenager that I didn't even know very well...but then again, Wakka knew him pretty well...but I hadn't even known Wakka for very long!

I sighed and watched as the numbers on the digital clock changed and it was officially 7:00 p.m. My shift was over and I was eager to get out and search for them. "Well, I'm gonna head out now," I informed Wakka, and he looked up from the counter where he had previously been flipping through a magazine.

"Aren't you gonna wait for dem' to get back?" I smiled and shook my head.

"Nah, I'll just go look around for them...they can't be that hard to find, right?" Wakka shrugged and waved me off.

"Okay then. I'll call you if they come back here." I nodded and waved, then exited the shop.

Now, where to look. Luckily, I had still had about an hour, or if I was lucky an hour and a half, until the sun set, so that would probably give me enough time to find them. Except...I had only been living in Twilight Town for about a week or so, and I didn't really know my way around. Chances are I would end up getting myself lost.

I had walked about ten minutes from Wakka's shop when I heard the sound of hurried footsteps, followed by heavy panting. I looked around but couldn't see anyone...that is, until they bumped right into me.

I almost fell over, along with the other individual, and my eyes shut tight due to instinct.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I heard the person cry, and I instantly recognized the voice. I looked down and confirmed my guess, furrowing my brow in confusion.

"Sora?" Deep, cerulean blue eyes looked up to me, and suddenly I felt an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu. Those blue eyes soon turned very suprised and nervous.

"Oh, Riku! Um, hi," he said, smiling sheepishly and stepping a few feet away from me, holding Ven in his arms. I was relieved when I saw the little toddler, but then I noticed something. Terra and Aqua weren't there.

"Sora...?" I began warily.

"Hmm?" he asked, trying to act innocent.

"Where are my siblings?" The smile on his face vanished and was replaced with a very nervous, guilty expression. "You've got to be kidding me, right?" I asked, looking down at him incredulously. He hung his head down, tracing invisible circles on the ground with his foot. "Sora! How could you lose them?!"

"I don't know!" He looked back up at me pathetically. "One second they were there and the next they were gone!"

"But you still have Ven," I replied, putting a hand on my hip. Sora looked confused for a second and then rolled his eyes.

"Ven can't run away from me," he stated simply, and I sighed and hung my head down.

"Great. They could be anywhere," I whined, slumping my shoulders. I really didn't feel like looking all over for them...and, of course, they could be lost and hurt and scared...okay, I doubted they were scared, but...who knew what could be happening to them!

I stood up straight and looked down at Sora, brow furrowed in determination. "Alright, we have to find them. I don't really know this town very well, and it wouldn't help if I got lost, too, so why don't we look together?" Sora nodded enthusiastically, but then looked down at Ven.

"What about this little fella'?" I moved forward and took Ven from Sora.

"I'll take him back to my place. Meet me at the Sandlot, and look along the way." Sora nodded again and I took off for my house.

* * *

The lunch bell rang and the students rushed out of their classes. I sighed and stuffed my janitor stuff into a closet, closing it quickly and wiping the invisible dirt off of my hands.

"MAZEL TOPH!!" I nearly pissed in my pants and jumped around to see a laughing Demyx and a bored looking Zexion. Demyx's face was all red from laughing, and I could feel my face heating up, too. However, not because I thought it was funny....

"Damn it, Demyx!" I shouted, pounding my fist hard on the top of Demyx's head. He abruptly stopped laughing and both of his hands flew up to hold his injured head. "OW!!" he shrieked, and even Zexion had to stifle a laugh.

"That's what you get when you scare Axel," I stated, smirking in satisfaction and placing a hand on my hip. Demyx looked up to me with watery eyes, still holding his head.

"Well you didn't have to hit so HARD!" he retorted, rubbing his head in an attempt to ease the pain. I rolled my eyes.

"Well YOU don't have to keep surprising me, but you do, so that's your punishment." Demyx whimpered and finally stopped rubbing his head. It was kinda pathetic, but...kinda cute at the same time.

"Fine, then I won't tell you what I was going to tell you," Demyx said in a rather childish tone, crossing his arms and turning away from me so that he was facing Zexion. I quirked a suspicious and curious eyebrow and crossed my arms.

"What were you going to tell me?" He merely shook his head in response, though, and I 'hmph'ed and turned away as well. "Whatever." This must not have been what he was expecting, because he turned back to face me with a suprised and disappointed expression on his face. But all of a sudden he seemed to forget all about what had just happened and his arm was suddenly around my neck, his face right next to mine, looking out at all of the teenagers. I raised my brow and he grinned.

"So, I heard you've got an eye for Roxas?" he asked with a mischevious hint to his tone, turning his head to look at me.

"Roxas?" I asked confusedly, blushing slightly at how close we were. He chuckled, and then pointed to the left of us. I followed his finger and saw a familiar group of teenagers--including the adorable blonde.

"The cute blondie," Demyx explained.

"So his name is Roxas, huh?" I liked the sound of that. "Roxas"...yeah, that fit him...well, from what I could tell, anyway.

"So, why don't you go say hi to 'im?" Demyx suggested, and I shrugged.

"I dunno...."

Demyx just stared at me for a second and then grinned. "Well, c'mon, then!" He grinned and pulled me, and Zexion, towards the group of friends. The first one to notice us was the girl, and then Roxas. "Hi there!" Demyx greeted cheerily, and all of them smiled back in greeting, except for Roxas, who looked curiously at me. I smirked and waved to him, and he blushed and looked away.

"Hey, Demyx," the loud one greeted, and the others followed with small "hello"s, then turned their attention to me. Heh, I guess I was the newcomer, huh?

"Hayner, Pence, Olette, Roxas," he gestured to each one individually as he introduced them--Hayner was the loud one, Pence was the fat one, Olette was the girl and Roxas, of course, was the cute one-- and then he continued and gestured to me, "this is Axel."

"Yo, punks," I said, putting one hand on my hip and saluting them with two fingers. Hayner looked at me suspiciously for a moment, looking me up and down, and then grinned.

"Hiya!" he said, crossing his arms over his chest. Olette smiled politely and Pence waved.

"Hello," came Olette's girlish voice, and I nodded.

"So, Axel, you're new around here, right?" Hayner asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah...I just came here about a week ago, actually."

"You look a little old to be a student here," Roxas commented--that was the first thing he had said to me.

"Eheheh..." I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly, but Demyx answered before I could.

"He's the new janitor." Demyx was grinning like an idiot, as usual, and Roxas was smiling now, too.

"Haha! You're the janitor?" Hayner was laughing at me, and Roxas was giggling. Olette slapped Hayner scoldingly, telling him it was rude to laugh at other people. He ignored her scolding, though, and put both hands on his hips once he stopped laughing.

"You don't look like a janitor," he pointed out, and I smirked.

"You noticed." Hayner grinned and Olette rolled her eyes, and Roxas smiled fondly at them.

"Well, we should probably get to eating lunch," Roxas spoke after a while, and Pence nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, I'm starving!" Olette giggled and looked at Demyx.

"Do you guys wanna come?" Demyx nodded 'yes', without asking me or Zexion, of course. "Great!" Hayner, Pence, Olette and Roxas started heading for the cafeteria, and me and Demyx followed.

"Demyx," Zexion began from behind us, and his blonde-haired boyfriend turned around to face him, "I'm gonna go eat in the library."

"Oh, uh, okay! I'll come," he began to walk over to Zexion, but the little emo-kid shook his head.

"No, you go ahead and eat with them. I'll see you tonight." Zexion smiled, and Demyx grinned back.

"Okay. Love you!" Demyx walked over to Zexion and kissed him, and when their lips parted I think Zexion muttered something to Demyx, causing said man to chuckle. Zexion turned and left, and Demyx watched him until he was out of sight. Sighing fondly, he turned back to me and grinned. I looked at him amusedly and he suddenly looked confused. "What?" I laughed and turned to follow the four other teens into the cafeteria, Demyx following close behind me, still a bit confused.

* * *

"You LOST them?" Kairi asked disbelievingly, and Naminé looked up at me worriedly.

"I didn't lose them, someone else did!" Naminé and Kairi both furrowed their brow in confusion.

"Who?" Naminé asked.

"Uhh...Sora," I replied lamely, and the twins looked at me in confusion.

"Who's Sora?" Kairi asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"...A friend." Kairi's eyes widened and she threw her hands up in the air.

"You left our little brother and sister with a STRANGER?!"

"He's not a stranger, I told you, he's my _friend_," _I think_, I added in my head. Kairi sighed exasperatedly, putting one hand on her hip and the other on her forehead. "Look, it's okay, we're looking for them," I explained, heading for the door.

"Riku--!" I didn't hear her out, however, and shut the door behind me. It was already about 7:15, and it was slowly getting darker. I raced down to the Sandlot and was suprised at what I saw when I got there. Sora, who, it seemed had been knocked down and was now laying on the ground, propping himself up with his elbows, was staring angrily up at another teenager--he looked about my age and was wearing a belly-shirt and a beanie on his head. He wore a cocky smirk and there was an odd scar across his face.

I walked over to them slowly and cautiously, and they both noticed me at the same time. The standing one furrowed his brow and put a hand on his hip, and Sora looked suprised--and maybe even a little relieved.

"Riku!" he exclaimed, a smile coming to face.

"Um...what's going on?" I asked, stopping a few feet away from the two. Sora hopped up and ran to stand next to me, and it was then that I noticed the two others standing close behind the man with the scar. There was a very tan, buffed man and a short, silver-haired chick.

"And just who the hell do you think you are?" came the slick voice of the man who had been standing over Sora moments before. Sora furrowed his brow and fisted his hands defensively. I decided to follow suit, furrowing my brow and trying to look tough. I had a feeling I was pulling it off better than Sora was.

"He's new here," Sora blurted out before I could reply myself. _Yeah, just tell him that, Sora,_ I thought sarcastically. The man laughed and then smirked, placing one hand on his hip and looking down at me. Not that he could look down very much, because we were about the same height.

"So you've already got yourself a new bodyguard, huh?" At first I was confused, but then I realized that he was talking to Sora, who gritted his teeth angrily.

"He's not my bodyguard!" Sora retorted, and the man's smirk widened.

"Well then, what is he?" Sora stayed silent for a moment, and right when he opened his mouth to answer the other guy continued. "Doesn't matter. Name's Seifer." He jabbed a thumb into his chest and looked back to me as he said this, and I narrowed my eyes. He 'hmph'ed and was going to say something when suddenly we could hear the sound of little feet running towards us.

"Riku!" came a little voice, and I saw Terra and Aqua running towards Sora and I. Seifer turned and watched them confusedly, but luckily they got past him without anything happening. They both glomped my legs and I almost fell over. Terra was laughing and looked up to me with a smile, but Aqua looked pissed at Terra.

"Riku, he got us lost!" Aqua complained, pointing an accusing finger at Terra. Terra frowned and let go of my leg.

"Tattle-tale!" Terra retorted, putting his hands on his hips. The two kids continued to argue until I head to step in.

"Are these your kids?" Seifer laughed mockingly, and I had to look up from my place on my knees to see him.

"They're my siblings," I answered coldly, standing up. Seifer snickered and shook his head.

"You have to babysit these anklebiters? How lame. How old are you supposed to be, anyway?"

"C'mon, guys," I started ushering the two "anklebiters" away from Seifer, ignoring said man's question.

"Hey, don't ignore me, lamer," Seifer threatened, and I could hear him walk towards us. I turned to face him, standing fully at this point, and glared.

"We have to go," I replied dryly.

"Without saying goodbye? How rude. Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners?" My eyes widened for a moment, but then I narrowed them. My mother had never had the chance to teach me much of anything.

"No. She didn't," I retorted and turned back to Sora and the kids, starting to walk away. Sora watched me in amazement for a moment, suprised at how I could just walk away like that. I guess he was always used to cowering from this jerk. Well, I was used to these kinds of kids.

Sora followed me after a few seconds, staying very close to my side. "Riku, you're just gonna walk away?" I raised a brow and nodded slowly.

"Yeah...why not?" The brunette bit his lip nervously.

"Well...Seifer holds grudges..." he said worriedly, and I rolled my eyes.

"What can he possibly do to me?" Sora didn't reply but instead looked away, and I looked back at him suspicously. "Well?" Sora sighed and looked back up at me.

"He's tough, Riku. Everyone in the town knows his name, and they fear it." I rolled my eyes.

"You sound like some old psycho storyteller." Sora pouted and I chuckled, and that's when Aqua started to whine about how she had been walking around all day and her feet hurt and she was tired. I sighed and picked her up, and then Terra started to whine about how that wasn't fair. I was gonna let Terra ride on my back, but then Sora bent down and Terra jumped on him. "Uhh...thanks," I smiled sheepishly, and Sora grinned.

"No problem."

After a few moments of walking like that, Sora looked like he was going to fall over. He was pretty skinny, after all. I wasn't suprised that he was already tired from carrying Terra. I laughed and turned my back to Sora. "Hop on, Terra." Terra, who I suspected didn't really care whose back he rode on, obeyed silently.

"But--" Sora couldn't get very far before I interrupted him by handing him Aqua. He grinned and laughed, taking Aqua, who was falling asleep at that point, into his arms.

* * *

"And after that, I never took a bath with a rubber ducky again." We all stared at Demyx in silence for a while, disturbed yet amused by his epic tale of his bathing problems.

"Demyx," Roxas began cautiously, reaching across the table to feel Demyx's forehead, "are you feeling alright?" Demyx grinned.

"Yup! I feel great," he chirped happily, and as Roxas sat back down he gave him a disbelieving look. Hayner laughed and threw his arm around Roxas's neck, grinning like a mad man.

"You know, maybe we should try that sometime," he said jokingly, causing Roxas to blush. I smiled at how cute the blonde was, as he bashfully tried to hide his face, which in turn made Hayner laugh more. Olette rolled her eyes and I chuckled. Demyx's face, however, became serious.

"No, you shouldn't," he said gloomily, and we all laughed. He seemed to be pouting for a moment, but then brightened up. "Hey, did you guys know that Axel is from Destiny Islands?" This got everyone's attention suddenly, and all eyes were on me. I smiled unsuredly as they all gazed at me curiously. Geez, someone said 'Destiny Islands' around here and it was like Jesus walked in the room.

"What's it like?" Suprisingly, Roxas was the one to ask this question. He seemed genuinely curious, and it was pretty cute. I smirked.

"Well...the beach is pretty nice; white sand, clear water, palm trees...and if you get thirsty, there's even a little fresh water fountain. On the "kid's island", anyway. The housing island is nothing special...but I must admit, having it warm all year round is awesome for me. I hate the cold." They were all listening pretty intently, and Demyx sighed dreamily.

"That sounds awesome!" he exclaimed, grinning madly. After taking a look at his--and everyone else's--face, I laughed.

"You guys are such dorks," I chuckled, and Demyx's smile grew. Roxas blushed a little but still looked at me, and Hayner frowned in protest.

"I'm no dork, punk," he growled, and I put my hands up in defense.

"Sorry, sorry," I apologized, grinning.

"Why'd you move here?" I smirked when I heard the small voice of Roxas, yet again, and looked to see him with his arms folded on top of the table.

"Uhh..." Once I had actually registered the question he'd asked me, I wasn't sure what to say. "Well...reasons...my...my brother, Riku, wanted to, uh...move here?" I said pathetically, and Roxas furrowed his brow.

"Riku?" I nodded slowly. He looked down thoughtfully and then picked at his tray of food. I raised an eyebrow suspicously and just as Demyx was about to open his mouth again I spoke.

"What about Riku?" Roxas looked back up at me and shrugged.

"I dunno...Sora just keeps talking about some "Riku" guy he met a few days ago...."

"Hmm...." So Riku had a new friend, huh? "Who's Sora?" Roxas smiled a little.

"My twin brother."

"You have a twin?" I laughed, taking a pack of gummies from Demyx, causing him to whine and try to get it back.

"Yeah...what's so funny?" Roxas asked confusedly, putting his hands back in his lap. I had to stretch my arm far out to the left to keep Demyx from reaching his pack of gummies, but eventually he gave up and began to pout. I chuckled and turned my attention back to Roxas and shrugged.

"Nothing," _I just can't imagine two faces like that living in the same world_, I added in my head, smirking at the thought of it. Roxas looked at me for a few more seconds but then turned his attention back to his food, which he wasn't really eating, just picking at.

When I hadn't been looking, Demyx had stolen back his now-opened bag of fruit-flavored gummies and was stealing away with them. I hopped up and tried to grab them back, but he dodged and starting running through the cafeteria. I ran after him, grinning triumphantly when I finally cornered him. The grin disappeared, though, when he smiled mischeviously and held up the bag for me to see. It was empty. I attacked him and he yelped, calling out for help. After giving him a pretty damn good knock on the head, I went back to the table we were previously sitting at. Hayner and Pence were laughing and Olette was fussing over the minor scene we had just caused. I smirked when Demyx came over, holding his head in pain for the second time that day, and sat across from me at the table.

"Are you gonna keep slugging me like that?" he asked in a whiny tone, and I laughed. Just then the bell rang, and Demyx groaned. "Oh, great. Time for me to head back to campus." Demyx sighed, standing up and walking towards the entrance. "Seeya later, guys!" He saluted cheerfully and left, several "goodbye"s following him.

"C'mon boys, time to go to class." Olette stood and Hayner and Pence groaned, but they got up anyway, as did Roxas. I stood as well, even though I didn't have to go to class. "It was nice meeting you, Axel," Olette said politely and I nodded.

"Ditto."

"See ya, man," Hayner said and all three friends headed for the exit, along with Roxas. He smiled shyly and nodded, and I smirked and saluted him.

"I'll see you later, Roxas," I purred, and he blushed slightly. Damn, he was even cuter when he blushed.

Once all of the teenagers were in their classes, I was officially bored with nothing to do...except wonder how Riku had met Roxas' twin.

* * *

The only sound that could be heard was the sound of the air conditioner blasting cool air into the small apartment. I sat in silence, blindly reading the words on the page of the book I had in my lap. None of it was registering into my mind--I couldn't focus. Finally, I closed the book and set it aside, sighing defeatedly. Glancing up at the clock, which read 7:24 p.m., I sighed in relief. Demyx would be home soon.

He would have been there sooner, since his college classes ended at around 3:00 or 4:00, but afterwards he had extra music rehearsal sometimes.

It was so quiet without him there, so lifeless. After a few more moments I looked over at the front door, which showed no signs of moving. I sighed and laid back on the navy blue couch, sprawling myself across it and stretching my limbs. I closed my eyes and let out a satisfied sigh. I had been sitting in my previous reading position for a good portion of the day, and all my muscles felt cramped.

I sat there for a few more moments and then the doorknob began to wiggle. A smile came to my lips when I heard footsteps walking towards me and I smelled the familiar scent of the beach and...too much hair gel. There was a soft "thud", probably Demyx dropping his bag and instruments, and then warm hands were suddenly on my neck and face, and soft lips pressed against mine. "Hey Zexy," Demyx purred, then proceded to kiss me a second time. This one lasted a little longer, but then Demyx pulled away and walked to stand on the other side of me, so I could see him.

"How was music rehearsal?" I "oof"ed as Demyx plopped himself down on top of me, letting his full body weight rest on me. I had to reposition myself under him to get comfortable, but luckily he didn't weigh _too_ much more than me.

"It was good," Demyx mumbled dazedly, burying his nose in my soft turtle-neck shirt. I smiled fondly at him, stroking his hair gently.

"You look pretty tired." He made a muffled "mmhmm" noise and I chuckled. "Do you wanna go to sleep?" Demyx lifted his head and looked at me for a few moments, then nodded with a stupid grin on his face. I smiled and was about to get up and get Demyx to bed before he went unconscious, but then he laid his head back down on my chest and closed his eyes. "Aren't you going to go to bed?"

"I can sleep here." I smiled and continued to stroke his hair, beginning to get rather sleepy myself.

"Goodnight, Demyx," I said softly, kissing his forehead. He lifted his head again and kissed me fully, bringing one hand up to my neck and leaving it there. Unfortunately, our lips parted moments later.

"Night babe." I rolled my eyes and Demyx grinned, laying his head back on my chest and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: ...random Zemyx at the end? Yes! I couldn't help myself! After writing this thing which is like...almost 6,000 friggin' words long, I had to treat myself to a little Zemyx! At least I didn't drag it on...I wanted to do so much more! xDD (beta fish says she's reminded of those two at Yulecon...and actually kinda liked the Zemyx...zomg they did it to me) (orgymoogle says OMG WE'VE HIT A BREAKTHROUGH! YAY!! she never liked zemyx before. :D THANK YOU PEOPLE AT YULECON!)**

**Anywho, thanks for reading, I hope you liked it! By the way, I didn't read over this after I finished it, so...sorry if there's something weird in here that cannot be fixed by meh beta fish.**

**OH! And sorry for the lack of Axel in this chapter (beta fish says yeah you are)...I just couldn't think of much to do with him in this chapter! And when I was finally writing where he meets Roxas I was kinda wiped out...I've been writing this for days. xDD Time to take a break and update my other story! Pray I don't die!! :D**

**Thanks to **_**flurry of dying flame**_** for beta reading! I heard that she might post an actual story on her account soon, and believe me, she's good! :DD (don't go by the ones she has up there now...they're ancient) I'll let you guys know when she posts some. ;) (beta fish says...orly?)**


	7. Chapter 6: The Beach?

**Disclaimer: I, orgymoogle, do not own **_**Kingdom Hearts**_** (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. Nor do I own the plots, storylines, or any of its other geniusness. I am merely an obsessed fangirl writing a fanfiction.**

**A/N: Okay guys, I have a dilemma. I really need a new title for this fanfiction. At first the name I chose, "Music", fit, but I changed the plot up a bit and the title just seems meaningless now. So, any suggestions?**

**Well, I hope you like this chapter. Oh, and I want to say thank you for all of the alerts and favorites! Reviews are awesome, too. ;)**

**P.S. I just wanna say that I absolutely LOVE "Sherlock Holmes"! I saw the new movie and am currently reading the first book, and I love it! Watson and Holmes in the new movie are incredibly hot and adorable together! Ahem. Just wanted to say that. :3**

**On to the chapter! :D **

* * *

_Music_

_Chapter 6: The Beach?_

"And so, I've decided that we're going to the beach!"

Demyx seemed very proud of this statement as he beamed in excitement, waiting for the ecstatic replies from the others sitting at the table. Hayner and Olette grinned and I crinkled my nose in disgust, while Zexion looked kind of indifferent about it, and I could already see Pence taking pictures of everything. I had come to realize, in the past...well, however many weeks I'd known him, that he was quite the photographer. And not just an amateur, he actually had some potential. He carried a camera around with him everywhere and took pictures of practically everything.

"Why the beach?" I asked, flicking a gross, little, green pea across the table at Hayner.

"Because the beach is fun!"

"The beach is not fun," I retorted, and Hayner flung a pea back at me, hitting me smack in the nose. I flung a small biscuit back at him more forcefully.

"Yes it is! What with the sky, the sand, the sea, the pretty shells, the birds that peck at you if you're eating food, the fat people who wear bikinis when they really shouldn't, little children making sand castles and peeing in the water, the sharp objects that get stuck in your feet because you can't see the sand underneath the ocean, the dead fish that get stuck on land--"

"And that all sounds fun to you?" I asked disbelievingly, and Demyx nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes! And you know what the best part is? The SEA!" Demyx took a small pause and sighed, staring up into space dreamily. "There's so much water, so many roughty waves to ride on and so many little sea creatures to share the joy of the ocean with!"

Everyone at the table just kind of stared at him for a moment, even Zexion, who, for the most part of Demyx's odd speech, had remained mostly unmoved. I suppose he was used to Demyx's strange outbursts by now.

"I hate the water." Demyx gasped dramatically and I raised one eyebrow, when suddenly something hit me in the face. Whatever landed in my face proceeded to fall into my lap and, growling, I stood up and flung myself across the table at Hayner, attempting to strangle him.

"Bitch!"

"How can you hate water? You have to drink it and shower in it..." Demyx continued, seemingly ignoring whatever it was that Hayner and I were doing. I somehow managed to get back on my feet and I got Hayner in a headlock. Demyx frowned and moved to split us up, and just as he reached us I saw familiar blue eyes staring at me. Only there were two pairs. So there were four eyes.

I let go of Hayner and he fell to the ground, quickly picking himself up afterwards. I stood straighter and looked down at the pair of boys who had just entered the cafeteria and came to sit with us. I recognized one, very easily, as Roxas, but I hadn't seen the other before. He was almost as cute, and had spiky brown hair and the same amazing eyes, body, and...

Realization hit me like a bomb and I grinned crookedly.

"Well, hey there, Roxas." My voice came out slick and sexy, just as I had intended it to, and Roxas smiled shyly, just like I had expected him to. I turned my gaze to his friend, who I was guessing was his twin. "Is this your brother?" The brunette I was speaking of grinned and before Roxas could answer me, he did.

"Yup! I'm his older twin, Sora." He waved cheerily and I waved slightly with two fingers, much like a salute.

"I'm Axel. A-X-E-L, got it memorized?" Sora giggled and nodded, then sat down at the table. Roxas took a seat next to him and I sat across from Roxas, leaning with my elbows on the table. A sudden look of realization came across Sora's face and he stood up abruptly, pointing at me with his arm fully outstretched.

"You're Axel?!" he asked in astonishment, and everyone else at the table, including me, looked at him like he was crazy.

"Uh, yeah, I'm Axel...what's the big deal?"

"I know you!" he exclaimed, a bright grin on his face. I gave him a confused look.

Now, I knew I had met Roxas, but I didn't remember ever meeting Sora. I had heard about Sora, yes, but I don't remember ever even seeing him around the school...although, right then that seemed highly impossible since he was being so...well, noticeable.

The perky brunette seemed to notice my confusion and he laughed. "I mean, I know who you are! Riku's told me about you, and the rest of your siblings!" I raised one eyebrow in suspicion. So, Riku had been telling people about me, huh?

"And what exactly has Riku been saying about me?"

"Oh, not much," Sora paused, looking up into space and tapping a finger on his chin, "he doesn't talk about you much. Although I've heard you're an insensitive, obnoxious bastard." He giggled and my eyes widened in fury. How dare Riku say those things about me to some kid I didn't even know!

Sora seemed to notice my anger and he looked worried, but lucky for him Demyx jumped back in. "Wow, your brother sounds like a charm," he joked, patting me on the back and laughing. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, right. He's the most self-centered asshole I've ever met." Sora frowned at my crude remark.

"No he's not! I think he's nice..."

I snorted. "Nice to you, maybe. But that's just because you're cute." Sora blushed.

"I wanna meet im'," Demyx whined, a pout growing on his face. He suddenly beemed with excitement though, and he grinned like a mad man. "Oh, I know! He can come to the beach with us!" Sora's face beamed then, too, and I groaned.

"Fine, he can go and I won't."

"Oh, come on, Axel! Look, you don't even have to go in the water! There are other things to do on the beach." Damnit. I really didn't want to go to the beach, but when Demyx was looking at me like that and trying so hard to get me to go...I just couldn't refuse.

"Okay, okay! Fine! I'll go to the stupid beach..." Demyx and Sora cheered and even Roxas looked happier.

"And you tell Riku about it, too, alright?" I gave Demyx a look that said "yeah right", and he placed a hand on his hip and sighed. "And just in case he doesn't, ask him about it, Sora." Sora grinned and nodded.

"How about we go Saturday?" Demyx, Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette all agreed, and Zexion shrugged. "Then it's settled; we'll all meet at the train station Saturday morning."

"Morning? What ever happened to sleeping in on Saturday?" I asked, crinkling my nose in distaste. Demyx and Sora laughed, but, telling by their expressions, Hayner and Pence agreed with me.

"You guys better get used to it. Summer is almost here." A majority of the teens at the table let out a dreamy sigh after Roxas pointed this out to us, and Hayner was the next to speak after him.

"Man, I can't believe Summer break is already here!"

"Almost here," Olette corrected, and Hayner rolled his eyes.

"Whatever."

"We'll have to make more than one trip to the beach this Summer, unlike last year." Hayner nodded in agreement with Demyx and I grimaced.

"Aren't there better things to do during Summertime then going swimming?" I urged, desperate to hear about some other activity that we would be doing that Summer.

"Pfft, swimming is the best thing about Summer!" Sora exclaimed, stuffing food in his mouth and quickly chewing, barely having time to swallow before stuffing his mouth with more.

"Is not! That has to be the worst thing about it! The heat is the best thing about Summer," I argued.

"I agree with Sora," Demyx stated. "What do you think, Zexy?" he asked, turning to his boyfriend.

"I do not like water much...I suppose I would have to agree with Axel." I grinned victoriously.

"Ha! So there, water guppy!" Demyx pouted at being called "water guppy" and I smirked.

"But that's two against five, Axel," Roxas pointed out, and I frowned frustratedly.

"Two against six, actually," Olette corrected.

"Okay, we get the point," I snapped, and Olette and Roxas both giggled.

Just then the bell rang and we all headed to class. Saturday was only three days away. Great. I had only been living in Twilight Town for about a month and already people were forcing me to go to my least favorite place.

**xxxXxXxxx**

When I got home on Thursday I was immediately attacked by Axel. He was sitting on the couch, facing the door, arms crossed and leaning back into the couch. He looked kinda pissed, so I walked in cautiously, one brow raised suspiciously.

"Is everything...alright?"

"So, you've been going around telling people that I'm an insensitive bastard?" I furrowed my brow in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your little friend had lunch with us today. You know, Sora." It took me a moment to understand what he was trying to say, but when I did I rolled my eyes. That's what this was about? I shouldn've known it was something stupid. Axel could get totally pissed about the smallest things.

I walked past the couch and set my bag down, then proceeded to search through all of the cabinets in our small kitchen, trying to find something to eat. I was positively starving.

"Don't just walk pass me! You have no right to be talking about me like that!" I snorted and turned to face him, a bit annoyed now.

"Why do you even care so much? It's not that big of a deal."

"Yes it is, because if you tell Sora that then chances are he'll tell everybody else that, and then everyone will think that I'm an asshole!" I rolled my eyes. What great logic.

"Oh, brother. Don't you already have friends at the school? Why should it matter if some people think you're an ass...even though they would be right in thinking so." Axel stood up and walked towards me angrily, his hands in fists.

"Oh, really? Well then, why don't I just tell Sora the truth about you!"

"Me? There's nothing to tell!"

"I can think of several stories to tell Sora...he'll never lok at you the same way once I'm done telling him about your little stunts!"

"What little stunts?"

"Oh, don't play dumb, Riku. Do you remember all of your one-nighters?" I blushed slightly and gritted my teeth. Axel smirked evilly. He knew he had me trapped, now.

So what I'd had more experience than most teenagers my age? That didn't matter! I mean, that was in the past, and...who didn't have hormones?

"That was a long time ago!" I argued, but Axel seemed unconvinced.

"Are you sure about that? You've probably been having sex with plenty of people around here!"

"I have not!"

"Then why have you been coming home so late? I know your job ends earlier then when you've been coming home."

"I've been hanging out with Sora! Besides, I haven't even been coming home that late, jackass!" At this point we were yelling pretty loudly and I could hear Ven crying from the other room.

"So then, Sora's your new little whore?" That last comment made me really mad. Before I knew what it I punched Axel square in the face. I froze afterwards, and he seemed pretty shocked as well.

"I--" But Axel gave me a good kick in the jaw before I had time to finish. I almost fell over, stumbling backwards and into the counter behind me. I received another kick in the gut and I caught hold of his foot this time, twisting his leg so that he got flipped over and fell to the floor. Kairi entered the room just as I was tackling Axel and then he flipped me over so that he was on top of me, punching me in the face.

"Axel! Riku! What the hell are you doing?!" Kairi asked panickingly, running over to us in a hurry. Once she got there, however, she didn't seem to know what to do. "Cut it out! Both of you!" Axel just ignored her and continued, though, so I did as well. Namine came out of the bedroom, cradling Ven in her arms, and gasped when she saw us. Terra and Aqua followed quickly after her; Aqua looked terrified and hid behind Namine while Terra ran over to us with an excited look on his face and began cheering us on. Kairi scolded him but he didn't stop, and she went back to trying to get us to stop.

I punched Axel again and then a third time, knocking him off of me. I stood to kick him but Kairi grabbed me and held me back. Axel stood up and was about to pounce on me when Kairi swiftly put herself inbetween us.

"Stop it already!" she screamed, and we both stopped, panting and staring angrily at each other. I could feel blood trickling down my chin and Axel's nose was bleeding. "What is wrong with you two?!"

Neither one of us answered, but finally I stepped back and wiped the blood from my lips, closing my eyes and "hmmph"ing. Great. Now I was probably going to have a black eye on Saturday. Kairi, who was very frustrated at this point and seemed very tired, as well, huffed and crossed her arms.

"What is this all about?"

"Riku's been telling people that I'm a complete bastard and making me sound like--"

"I have not! I hardly even talk about you! Why would I want to?"

"HEY!" Kairi yelled, getting our attention back. "Whatever the hell you guys's problems are, sort them out and get over yourselves! You're scaring Ven and you've probably woke up everyone in this entire neighborhood by now!"

Axel growled--or yelled, I'm not quite sure which one it was. Perhaps a mixture of both--and stomped off into the bedroom, nearly knocking Namine over in the process. Kairi yelled at him and followed him into the bedroom, and although they argued for a while I didn't think I would have to worry about him getting violent with her. Axel had one hell of a temper but he didn't hit girls.

I huffed and stormed out of the small apartment, grabbing my jacket on the way.

**--**

I wasn't sure where I was going, but I walked quickly, an angry glare plastered on my face. What was wrong with him? And just who the hell did he think he was? He had no right to talk about Sora that way! Sora wasn't just some guy I had met on the streets, he was--

I stopped mid-walk, my brow knotted and my fists clenched together. What exactly _was_ Sora to me, anyway? Why was I getting so worked up about all of this? I wasn't sure what to make of it at the time. Had I always felt this way about Sora? From the very first time we met, which was really only a month ago, we had gotten along perfectly and he made me...happy. Really happy. I loved spending time with him, and I couldn't stand it when someone insulted him or threatened him. The other day when I found Seifer bullying him I wanted to slug the belly-buttoned shirt punk so bad...and, obviously, I wasn't reluctant at all in defending him against Axel.

I sighed. This was only natural, right? I mean, who didn't want to defend their friend?

"Riku?" I turned abruptly when I heard my name, but when I saw who it was I sighed in relief. Sora stood there, a curious and worried look on his face. "Are you okay? You look pretty tense." I bit my lip and then sighed again, forcing a small smile onto my lips.

"Nah, I'm fine." Sora didn't seem convinced and he still looked worried. "What's wrong?"

"Your face...what happened?" I sighed and could have smacked myself. Duh.

"I just, um, fell." Wow. Lamest excuse ever? I think so.

But it seemed to do the job, because he giggled and began walking.

"Boy do I know how that goes. I'm so clumsy sometimes." I smiled and we walked side by side at a slow-ish pace. It was getting darker, and we were headed in the opposite direction of my house, but I didn't really care. "Man," he began, stretching and causing his shirt to go up and show a little bit of his belly, "I can't wait for Saturday!" I blushed lightly and looked away, focusing on my feet instead of his body. Surely that wasn't normal.

"What's so special about Saturday?" I asked. Sora looked at me with a blank expression on his face for a moment before he spoke.

"Didn't Axel tell you?" I frowned immediately at the mention of the redhead's name and shook my head. Sora chuckled. "Figures. We're all going to the beach on Saturday!"

"The beach?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah! We would have waited for Summer vacation to start, but..." Sora paused, seeming confused himself as to why they weren't waiting. "Actually, I'm not sure why we have to go on Saturday. Just because we want to, I guess," he laughed brightly and I grinned.

"Well, alright, sounds fun." Confusion spread across Sora's face for a moment but then a look of realization came over him.

"OH YEAH! You came here from Destiny Islands, right?" I nodded slowly and he laughed, blushing lightly. "No wonder you're not that excited. I only got to go to the beach once last year, so I'm really looking forward to it this year!"

"I am to excited!" I retorted playfully, and he stuck his tongue out at me and laughed, then began running when I tried to grab him. "Hey, get back here!" He laughed some more and eventually led us to an odd, seemingly remote place of Twilight Town. I had never been there before. There were brick walls surrounding us and where we were it looked more like a weird alleyway then anything else.

Sora came to a stop and I did right behind him, both of us laughing and out of breath. "You know, you're a really fast runner for someone so short," I remarked, and he grinned, leaning against one of the walls, still panting.

"I bet I could beat you in a race any day," he said, smirking. I raised my eyebrows in amusement and grinned crookedly, coming to stand right in front of him.

"Oh really? We'll see about that Saturday." His grin widened.

"You're on."

It was then I realized how close we were and, as my face slowly turned more serious, I think Sora realized it, too. We stared at each other for a moment, both of us silent. My breathing was still a bit heavy and I was finding it difficult to catch my breath. We were standing so close. I basically had him trapped against the wall, and I could practically feel his breath on my face.

I could feel my heart pounding and my blood racing. I knew I was blushing again, and I cursed myself for doing so. What was wrong with me? I felt the uncontrollable need to close the space inbetween us, but I knew I shouldn't.

Finally he chuckled nervously and moved to the side, then began walking out of the alley. "We should, uh, head back. It's getting late."

"Uhh...yeah," I agreed, nodding and following after him.

We parted and went our seperate ways half way to my house, and I continued the rest of the way deep in thought. Okay...this was kind of weird. Why was I feeling like this? This was not normal. You don't feel this way about everyone. Especially not just "friends".

I approached the front of our apartment and sighed, shaking my head. I entered the hellhouse, brushing those thoughts aside. Just to my luck, no one was in the living room and by this time everyone had quieted down. Ven wasn't crying anymore and I didn't hear anyone arguing. But our apartment only had two rooms; the living room/kitchen and the bedroom. Either Axel was in the bedroom and was somehow not causing strife, or he had stepped out. At that point I didn't really care. I was tired and my face was throbbing. I went to the freezer and pulled out a pack of ice, wrapping it in a cloth and putting it to my eye. I then flopped onto the couch and slowly fell asleep.

**xxxXxXxxx**

I opened the door and took in a deep breath, smiling when I smelled something good. When I walked further into our apartment room I saw him standing in front of the stove, stirring something that was in a big pot. I set my instrument down and walked over to him, coming up behind him and wrapping my arms around his waist.

"Hey, sweetheart. Whatcha cookin'"? I asked, kissing his neck tenderly. He didn't say anything but gestured to the large pot, and I looked inside and grinned, licking my lips. It appeared to be some sort of soup. "It smells amazing," I said, hugging him tighter. I was sooo hungry, and I could definitely use some of Zexion's cooking. He cooked like a god.

"Do I have to go Saturday?" he asked suddenly, and I chuckled.

"Yes."

"But I was going to go to the library...besides, I would not do anything at the beach, anyway." I pouted and turned him around to face me.

"Oh, come on. Don't try to get out of it now," I whined, and he frowned.

"But there is no reason for me to go."

"Yes there is! I want you to go," I said, smiling and tracing kisses along his jawline.

"But I do not want to go," he argued, and I sighed.

"Well...why don't you just bring ten books from the library?" He looked amused and I put on the puppy dog face. "Pretty please?" He sighed and crossed his arms.

"Fine." I grinned and kissed him until he pulled away and turned back to the soup he was cooking. I hugged him and kissed his neck again.

"Thank you, Zexy!" He turned back to me with a small spoonful of soup and held it to my mouth.

"Taste." I obeyed and quickly ate the spoonful, moaning at how good it was.

"It tastes great!" I exclaimed, and he turned, once again, back to the soup pot and took it off of the burner and turned the burner off. I reached over to one of the cabinets and pulled out two bowls, holding them out to Zexion. He spooned soup into both of them and, after grabbing two spoons, I walked over to the couch and sat down. He joined me shortly after and we ate while watching T.V. The movie we were watching didn't end until a couple hours later, and by that time I was getting pretty tired.

"Come on, let's go," Zexion said once the movie was over, standing up and tugging on my arm to get me up, too. I complied and we went into our bedroom. I immediately hopped into bed and Zexion crossed his arms, looking at me scoldingly. "Don't you think you should change into some pajamas before you go to sleep?"

I thought about it for a moment before sitting up and looking at him. "Why should I?"

"Because it is hygienic." I sighed and stood up, walking over to my dresser and pulling out a pair of PJ's. I changed into some sweat pants and he put on a huge T-shirt and some shorts. We both crawled into bed and snuggled up together.

"You know, I think Roxas has a thing for Axel," I said, yawning and tracing small circles on his back.

"Really?"

"Yeah...he's always staring at him and I keep seeing him trying to talk to him. But you know how shy he is."

"Mmhmm."

"I think Axel's starting to like Roxas, too. I think he was interested in him from the start, actually."

"Sure."

"I can't wait to see what they're like on the beach! I mean, cuz', y'know, you have to wear bathing suits and everything." Zexion didn't reply, so I just continued. "But actually...if Axel's planning on not swimming, then he probably won't wear a bathing suit, right?"

"Mmm."

"Aw, darn it." I pouted, and Zexion looked up at me, raising one brow in suspicion.

"Why do you care?" I laughed and kissed Zexion deeply. He melted into it but we parted moments later, and I smiled at him, cupping his cheek gently.

"I don't, except that I think it would be very amusing to see Axel and Roxas both half naked in front of each other." I chuckled and he rolled his eyes, smiling at the same time.

"Well, good then. Although I still do not understand why you would get so much amusement from that." I laughed and he laid his head back down, nuzzling his face into my chest.

"I don't think you ever will, Zexy. So--"

"Hey, Demyx," he interrupted, looking back up at me. "Shut up." I laughed and kissed him.

"Sure thing."

* * *

**A/N: This is the second chapter in a row that I've ended with random Zemyx...xD. But, um, there will probably be more Zemyx in these chapters from now on, since this story has changed it's course and is now more about them...of course there will be Soriku and Akuroku, as well. And side DemAku, of course.**

**Anywho, hope you liked it! I originally intended for them to go to the beach in this chapter, but as you can see it changed. They'll go in the next chapter.**

**Thanks for reading, a****nd remember, alerts and favorites are great, but reviews really give me inspiration! :D**

**All flames will be used for Axel's enjoyment.**

**~orgymoogle**


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